Oak  Street 
UNCLASSIFIED 


SELECTIONS 


from  the  Writ- 
ings of  Robert 
Brown  ing 

111.  Library 

51 

mi 


\ 


SELECTIONS 

FROM  THE  WRITINGS  OF 
ROBERT  BROWNING 


Arranged  under  the  Days  of  the  Year , and 
accompanied  by  Memoranda  of  A nniversaries 
of  AToted  Events  and  of  the  Birth  or  Death 
of  Famous  Men  and  Women 


BOSTON  AND  NEW  YORK:  HOUGHTON,  MIFFLIN 
& co.  (fttoerai&e  Cambridge 

1890 


Copyright,  1887, 

By  HOUGHTON,  MIFFLIN  & CO. 

All  rights  reserved . 


Tke  Riverside  Press,  Cambridge , Mass.,  U.  S.  A. 
Electrotyped  and  Printed  by  H.  O.  Houghton  & Company. 


/{  -pt  <<£  '^v  sr 


And  so  I live,  you  see, 

Go  through  the  world,  try,  prove,  reject, 

Prefer,  still  struggling  to  effect 
My  warfare  ; happy  that  I can 
Be  crossed  and  thwarted  as  a man, 

Not  left  in  God’s  contempt  apart, 

With  ghastly  smooth  life,  dead  at  heart, 

Tame  in  earth’s  paddock  as  her  prize. 

Thank  God,  she  still  each  method  tries 
To  catch  me,  who  may  yet  escape, 

She  knows,  the  fiend  in  angel’s  shape ! 

Thank  God,  no  paradise  stands  barred 
To  entry,  and  I find  it  hard 
To  be  a Christian,  as  I said ! 

Still  every  now  and  then  my  head 

Raised  glad,  sinks  mournful  — all  grows  drear 

Spite  of  the  sunshine,  while  I fear 

And  think,  u How  dreadful  to  be  grudged 

No  ease  henceforth,  as  one  that ’s  judged, 

Condemned  to  earth  forever,  shut 

From  heaven ! ” 

But  Easter-Day  breaks ! But 
Christ  rises  ! Mercy  every  way 
Is  infinite,  — and  who  can  say? 

Christmas-Eve  and  Easter-Day. 


JANUARY  1-3 

1.  Arthur  Hugh  Clough , 1819. 

Yet  gifts  should  prove  their  use  ! 

I own  the  Past  profuse 

Of  power  each  side,  perfection  every  turn  ; 

Eyes,  ears  took  in  their  dole, 

Brain  treasured  up  the  whole  ; 

Should  not  the  heart  beat  once  “How  good  to 
live  and  learn  ? ” rabbi  Ben  Ezra. 

2.  James  Wolfe , 1727. 

Is  this  our  ultimate  stage,  or  starting-place 
To  try  man’s  foot,  if  it  will  creep  or  climb, 

Mid  obstacles  in  seeming,  points  that  prove 
Advantage  for  who  vaults  from  low  to  high 
And  makes  the  stumbling-block  a stepping-stone  ? 

The  Ring  and  the  Book. 

3.  Douglas  J err  old,  1803. 

Still 

I mind  how  love  repaired  all  ill, 

Cured  wrong,  soothed  grief,  made  earth  amends 
With  parents,  brothers,  children,  friends  ! 

Easter-Day. 


JANUARY  4-7a 

4.  Rachel  died , 1858. 

Love,  we  are  in  God’s  hand. 

How  strange  now  looks  the  life  He  makes  us  lead  ; 
So  free  we  seem,  so  fettered  fast  we  are  ! 

Andrea  del  Sarto. 

5.  Benjamin  Rush , 1745. 

Earth  ’s  a mill  where  we  grind  and  wear  mufflers, 

So,  grind  away,  mouth-wise  and  pen-wise, 

Do  all  that  we  can  to  make  men  wise  ! 

And  if  men  prefer  to  be  foolish, 

Ourselves  have  proved  horse-like  not  mulish  ; 
Sent  grist,  a good  sackful  to  hopper, 

And  worked  as  the  Master  thought  proper. 

Pacchiarotto. 


6.  Charles  Sumner , 1811. 

For  life,  with  all  it  yields  of  joy  and  woe, 

And  hope  and  fear — believe  the  aged  friend, — 

Is  just  our  chance  o’  the  prize  of  learning  love ; 
How  love  might  be,  hath  been  indeed,  and  is ; 

And  that  we  hold  thenceforth  to  the  uttermost 
Such  prize  despite  the  envy  of  the  world, 

And  having  gained  truth,  keep  truth,  that  is  all. 

A Death  in  the  Desert. 

7.  Israel  Putnam , 1718. 

Truth  is  the  strong  thing.  Let  man’s  life  be  true  ! 

In  a Balcony. 


JANUARY  8-1  1 


8.  Robert  Schumann , 1810. 

He  holds  on  firmly  to  some  thread  of  life  — 

(It  is  the  life  to  lead  perforcedly) 

Which  runs  across  some  vast  distracting  orb 
Of  glory  on  either  side  that  meagre  thread, 

Which,  conscious  of,  he  must  not  enter  yet  — 

The  spiritual  life  around  the  earthly  life  ; 

The  law  of  that  is  known  to  him  as  this, 

His  heart  and  brain  move  there,  his  feet  stay  here. 

An  Epistle. 


9.  Napoleon  III.  died , 1873. 

And  why  should  I be  sad,  or  lorn  of  hope  ? 

Why  ever  make  man’s  good  distinct  from  God’s  ? 
Or,  finding  they  are  one,  why  dare  distrust  ? 

Paracelsus. 


10.  Laud  beheaded,  1645. 

Ho  — ’t  is  ungainly  work,  the  ruling  men,  at  best : 
The  graceful  instinct ’s  right ; ’t  is  women  stand 
confessed 

Auxiliary,  the  gain  that  never  goes  away, 

Takes  nothing  and  gives  all.  Fifine  at  the  Fair. 

11.  Bayard  Taylor , 1825. 

Then,  evil  is  in  its  nature  loud,  while  good 
Is  silent  — you  hear  each  petty  injury  — 

None  of  his  daily  virtues.  Pippa  Passes. 


JANUARY  12-14 


12.  John  Winthrop , 1588. 

Is  not  God  now  i’  the  world  His  power  first  made  ? 
Is  not  His  love  at  issue  still  with  sin, 

Visibly  when  a wrong  is  done  on  earth  ? 

Love,  wrong,  and  pain,  what  see  I else  around  ? 

A Death  in  the  Desert. 

13.  S.  P.  Chase , 1808. 

Why  fell  not  things  out  so  nor  otherwise  ? 

Ask  that  particular  devil  whose  task  it  is 

To  trip  the  all-but-at-perfection,  — slur 

The  line  o’  the  painter  just  where  paint  leaves  off 

And  life  begins,  — put  ice  into  the  ode 

O’  the  poet  while  he  cries  “ Next  stanza  — fire  ! ” 

Inscribes  all  human  effort  with  one  word, 

Artistry’s  haunting  curse,  the  Incomplete  ! 

The  Ring  and  the  Book. 

14.  Bishop  Berkeley  died , 1753. 

He  fixed  thee  mid  this  dance 
Of  plastic  circumstance 

This  Present,  thou,  forsooth,  would’st  fain  arrest  ; 
Machinery  just  meant 
To  give  thy  soul  its  bent, 

Try  thee  and  turn  thee  forth,  sufficiently  impressed. 

Rabbi  Ben  Ezra. 


JANUARY  15-17 


15.  Moliere , 1622. 

Never  to  be  again  ! But  many  more  of  the  kind 
As  good,  nay,  better  perchance  : is  this  your  com- 
fort to  me  ? 

To  me,  who  must  be  saved  because  I cling  with  my 
mind 

To  the  same,  same  self,  same  love,  same  God  : 
ay,  what  was,  shall  be.  Abt  Vogler. 

16.  Richard  Savage , 1697. 

No,  be  man  and  nothing  more  — 

Man  who,  as  man  conceiving,  hopes  and  fears, 

And  craves  and  deprecates,  and  loves,  and  loathes, 
And  bids  God  help  him,  till  death  touch  his  eyes 
And  show  God  granted  most,  denying  all. 

Ferishtah’s  Fancies. 

17.  Benjamin  Franklin , 1706. 

For  don’t  you  mark  ? We  ’re  made  so  that  we 
love 

First  when  we  see  them  painted,  things  we  have 
passed 

Perhaps  a hundred  times  nor  cared  to  see  ; 

And  so  they  are  better  painted  — better  to  us, 
Which  is  the  same  thing  — Art  was  given  for 
that ! 

God  uses  us  to  help  each  other  so, 

Lending  our  minds  out.  Fra  Lippo  Lippi. 


JANUARY  18-21 


18.  Daniel  Webster , 1782. 

Why  comes  temptation  but  for  man  to  meet 
And  master  and  make  crouch  beneath  his  foot, 
And  so  be  pedestailed  in  triumph  ? Pray 
“ Lead  us  into  no  such  temptations,  Lord  ! ” 

Yea,  but,  O Thou  whose  servants  are  the  bold, 
Lead  such  temptations  by  the  head  and  hair, 
Reluctant  dragons,  up  to  who  dares  fight, 

That  so  he  may  do  battle  and  have  praise  ! 

The  Ring  and  the  Book. 

19.  Edgar  Allan  Poe , 1809. 

Anyhow,  ’t  is  the  nature  of  the  soul 
To  seek  a show  of  durability, 

Nor,  changing,  plainly  be  the  slave  of  change. 

Red  Cotton  Night-cap  Country. 

20.  Nathaniel  Parker  Willis , 1807. 

Youth,  with  its  Beauty  and  Grace,  would  seem 
bestowed  on  us  for  some  such  reason  as  to  make  us 
partly  endurable  till  we  have  time  for  really  be- 
coming so  of  ourselves,  without  their  aid,  when  they 
leave  us.  A Soul’s  Tragedy. 

21.  John  Charles  Fremont , 1813. 

Here,  work  enough  to  watch 
The  Master  work,  and  catch 

Hints  of  the  proper  craft,  tricks  of  the  tool’s  true 
play.  Rabbi  Ben  Ezra 


JANUARY  22-24 


22.  Bacon , 1561 ; Byron , 1788. 

Consider  well ! 

Were  knowledge  all  thy  faculty,  then  God 
Must  be  ignored  ; love  gains  Him  by  first  leap. 
Frankly  accept  the  creatureship  : ask  good 
To  love  for  : press  bold  to  the  tether’s  end 
Allotted  to  this  life’s  intelligence. 

Ferishtah’s  Fancies. 

23.  William  Page , 1811. 

Fire  is  in  the  flint  : true,  once  a spark  escapes, 

Fire  forgets  the  kinship,  soars  till  fancy  shapes 
Some  befitting  cradle  where  the  babe  had  birth  — 
Wholly  heaven ’s  the  product,  unallied  to  earth. 
Splendors  recognized  as  perfect  in  the  star  ! — 

In  our  flint  their  home  was,  housed  as  now  they  are. 

Ferishtah’s  Fancies. 

24.  Frederick  the  Great , 1712. 

Not  for  such  hopes  and  fears 
Annulling  youth’s  brief  years, 

Do  I remonstrate  : folly  wide  the  mark  ! 

Rather  I prize  the  doubt 
Low  kinds  exist  without, 

Finished  and  finite  clods,  untroubled  by  a spark. 

Rabbi  Ben  Ezra. 


JANUARY  25-28 


25.  Robert  Burns , 1759. 

God  has  conceded  two  sights  to  a man  — 

One,  of  men’s  whole  work,  time’s  completed  plan, 
The  other,  of  the  minute’s  work,  man’s  first 
Step  to  the  plan’s  completeness  ; what ’s  dispersed 
Save  hope  of  that  supreme  step  which,  descried 
Earliest,  was  meant  still  to  remain  untried 
Only  to  give  you  heart  to  take  your  own 
Step,  and  there  stay  — leaving  the  rest  alone  ? 

SORDELLO. 

26.  Benjamin  R.  Haydon , 1786. 

I recognize  mankind 

In  all  its  height  and  depth,  and  length  and  breadth. 
Mankind  i’  the  main  have  little  wants  not  large  : 

I,  being  of  will  and  power  to  help  i’  the  main, 
Mankind,  must  help  the  least  wants  first. 

Prince  Hohenstiel-Schwangau. 

27.  Wolfgang  Amadeus  Mozart , 1756. 

There  was  no  duty  patent  in  the  world 
Like  daring  try  be  good  and  true  myself, 

Leaving  the  shows  of  things  to  the  Lord  of  Show 
And  Prince  o’  the  Power  of  the  Air. 

The  Ring  and  the  Book. 

28.  Charles  George  Gordon , 1833. 

When  is  man  strong  until  he  feels  alone  ? 

Colombe’s  Birthday. 


JANUARY  29-31 


29.  Emanuel  Swedenborg , 1688. 

Shall  not  God  stoop  the  kindlier  to  His  work, 
His  marvel  of  creation,  foot  would  crush, 

Now  that  the  hand  He  trusted  to  receive 
And  hold  it,  lets  the  treasure  fall  perforce  ? 

The  better  ; He  shall  have  in  orphanage 
His  own  way  all  the  clearlier  ; — 

Who  is  it  makes  the  soft  gold  hair  turn  black, 
And  sets  the  tongue,  might  lie  so  long  at  rest, 
Trying  to  talk  ? Let  us  leave  God  alone  ! 

The  Ring  and  the  Book. 

30.  Walter  Savage  Landor , 1775. 

But  also,  God,  whose  pleasure  brought 
Man  into  being,  stands  away 

As  it  were,  a handbreadth  off,  to  give 
Room  for  the  newly-made  to  live, 

And  look  at  Him  from  a place  apart, 

And  use  his  gifts  of  brain  and  heart, 

Given  indeed,  but  to  keep  forever. 

Chbistmas-Eve. 

31.  Franz  Schubert , 1797. 

— God  made  all  the  creatures  and  gave  them 
Our  love  and  our  fear 
To  show,  we  and  they  are  his  children, 

One  family  here. 


Saul. 


FEBRUARY  1-4 


1.  Arthur  H.  Hallam , 1811. 

Youth  is  the  only  time 
To  think  and  to  decide  on  a great  course  ; 
Manhood  with  action  follows  ; but ’t  is  dreary 
To  have  to  alter  our  whole  life  in  age  — 

The  time  past,  the  strength  gone.  Strafford. 

2.  Hannah  More , 1745. 

Lied  is  a rough  phrase;  say  he  fell  from  truth 
In  climbing  towards  it  ! Ferishtah’s  Fancies. 

3.  Frederic  W.  Robertson , 1816. 

Or  say  there ’s  beauty  with  no  soul  at  all  — 

(I  never  saw  it  — put  the  case  the  same.) 

If  you  get  simple  beauty  and  nought  else, 

You  get  about  the  best  thing  God  invents  : 

That ’s  somewhat  : and  you  ’ll  find  the  soul  you  have 
missed, 

Within  yourself,  when  you  return  Him  thanks. 

Fra  Lippo  Lippi 

4.  Josiah  Quincy,  1772. 

For  I am  ’ware  it  is  the  seed  of  act, 

God  holds  appraising  in  his  hollow  palm, 

Not  act  grown  great  thence  on  the  world  below, 
Leafage  and  branchage  vulgar  eyes  admire. 
Therefore  I stand  on  my  integrity, 

Nor  fear  at  all.  The  Ring  and  the  Book. 


FEBRUARY  5-8 


5.  Ole  Bull , 1810. 

Rejoice  we  are  allied 

To  That  which  doth  provide 

And  not  partake,  effect  and  not  receive  ! 

A spark  disturbs  our  clod  ; 

Nearer  we  hold  of  God 

Who  gives,  than  of  his  tribes  that  take,  I must  be- 
lieve. Rabbi  Ben  Ezra. 

6.  Madame  de  Sevigne 1626. 

O ’t  were  too  absurd  to  slight 
For  the  hereafter  the  to-day’s  delight ! 

Quench  thirst  at  this,  then  seek  next  well-spring  — 
wear 

Home-lilies  ere  strange  lotus  in  my  hair  ! 

SORDELLO. 

7.  Sir  Thomas  Moref  1480. 

Aspire,  break  bounds  ! I say, 
Endeavor  to  be  good,  and  better  still, 

And  best  ! Success  is  nought,  endeavor ’s  all. 

Red  Cotton  Night-cap  Country. 

8.  Samuel  Butler , 1612. 

Thank,  praise,  love 

(Sum  up  thus)  for  the  lowest  favors  first, 

The  commonest  of  comforts  ! Aught  beside 
Very  omnipotence  had  overlooked 
Such  needs,  arranging  for  thy  little  life. 

Ferishtah’s  Fancies. 


FEBRUARY  9-1  1 


9.  Murder  of  David  Rizzio.  1566. 

Our  human  flower,  sun-ripened,  proffers  scent 
Though  reason  prove  the  sun  lacks  nose  to  feed 
On  what  himself  made  grateful : flower  and  man, 
Let  each  assume  that  scent  and  love  alike 
Being  once  born,  must  needs  have  use  ! Man’s  part 
Is  plain  — to  send  love  forth,  — astray,  perhaps  : 
No  matter.,  he  has  done  his  part. 

Ferishtah’s  Fano/es. 


10.  Ary  Scheffer , 1795. 

Oh,  we  ’re  sunk  enough  here,  God  knows  ! 

But  not  quite  so  sunk  that  moments, 

Sure  though  seldom,  are  denied  us, 

When  the  spirit’s  true  endowments 
Stand  out  plainly  from  its  false  ones, 

And  apprise  it  if  pursuing 
Or  the  right  way  or  the  wrong  way, 

To  its  triumph  or  undoing.  Christina. 


11.  Lydia  Maria  Child , 1802. 

I count  life  just  a stuff 
To  try  the  soul’s  strength  on,  educe  the  man. 

Who  keeps  one  end  in  view  makes  all  things  serve. 

In  a Balcony. 


FEBRUARY  12-15 


12.  Abraham  Lincoln , 1809. 

A people  is  but  the  attempt  of  many 
To  rise  to  the  completer  life  of  one. 

And  those  who  live  as  models  for  the  mass 
Are  singly  of  more  value  than  they  all.  Luria. 

13.  Talleyrand , 1754. 

Religion ’s  all  or  nothing  : it ’s  no  mere  smile 
O’  contentment,  sigh  of  aspiration,  sir  — 

No  quality  o’  the  finelier-tempered  clay 
Like  its  whiteness  or  its  lightness  ; rather  stuff 
O’  the  very  stuff,  life  of  life  and  self  of  self. 

Mr.  Sludge,  “The  Medium.” 

14,  Winfield  Scott  Hancock , 1824. 

Old  folk  and  young  folk,  still  at  odds,  of  course  ! 
Age  quarrels  because  Spring  puts  forth  a leaf 
While  Winter  has  a mind  that  boughs  stay  bare. 

Red  Cotton  Night-cap  Country. 

15.  Ash  Wednesday . 

Let  us  not  always  say 
“ Spite  of  this  flesh  to-day 

I strove,  made  head,  gained  ground  upon  the 
whole  ! ” 

As  the  bird  sings  and  wings, 

Let  us  cry  “ All  good  things 

Are  ours,  nor  soul  helps  flesh  more,  now,  than  flesh 
helps  soul  ! ” Rabbi  Ben  Ezra. 


FEBRUARY  16-18 


16.  Philip  Melanchthon , 1497. 

He  loves  both  old  and  young, 

Able  and  weak,  affects  the  very  brutes 

And  birds  — how  say  I ? flowers  of  the  field  — 

As  a wise  workman  recognizes  tools 

In  a master’s  workshop,  loving  what  they  make. 

Thus  is  the  man  as  harmless  as  a lamb  ; 

Only  impatient,  let  him  do  his  best, 

At  ignorance  and  carelessness  and  sin. 

An  Epistle. 


17.  Michael  Angelo  died , 1564. 

I will  pass  by,  and  see  their  happiness, 

And  envy  none  — being  just  as  great  no  doubt, 
Useful  to  men,  and  dear  to  God,  as  they  ! 

Pippa  Passes. 

18.  George  Peabody , 1795. 

One  cannot  judge 

Of  what  has  been  the  ill  and  well  of  life, 

The  day  that  one  is  dying  — sorrows  change 
Into  not  altogether  sorrow-like  ; 

I do  see  strangeness  but  scarce  misery, 

Now  it  is  over,  and  no  danger  more. 

The  Ring  and  the  Book. 


FEBRUARY  19-21 


19.  Copernicus , 1473. 

Enough  now,  if  the  Right 
And  Good  and  Infinite 

Be  named  here,  as  thou  callest  thy  hand  thine  own, 
With  knowledge  absolute, 

Subject  to  no  dispute 

From  fools  that  crowded  youth,  nor  let  thee  feel 
alone.  Rabbi  Ben  Ezra. 


20.  Voltaire , 1694. 

Because  the  very  fiends  weave  ropes  of  sand 
Rather  than  taste  pure  hell  in  idleness. 

A Forgiveness. 

21.  John  Henry  Newman , 1801. 

Only  grant  my  soul  may  carry  high  through  death 
her  cup  unspilled,  . . . 

I shall  boast  it  mine  — the  balsam,  bless  each  kindly 
wrench  that  wrung 

From  life’s  tree  its  inmost  virtue,  tapped  the  root 
whence  pleasure  sprung, 

Barked  the  bole,  and  broke  the  bough,  and  bruised 
the  berry,  left  all  grace, 

Ashes  in  death’s  stern  alembic,  loosed  elixir  in  its 
place.  La  Saisiaz. 


FEBRUARY  22-25 


22.  Washington , 1732  ; Lowell , 1819. 

God’s  work,  be  sure 

No  more  spreads  wasted,  than  falls  scant  : 

He  filled,  did  not  exceed,  man’s  want 
Of  beauty,  in  this  life.  — But  through 
Life  pierce  — and  what  has  earth  to  do, 

Its  utmost  beauty’s  appanage, 

With  the  requirements  of  next  stage  ? 

Easter-Day. 

23.  Handel , 1685. 

But  priests 

Should  study  passion  ; how  else  cure  mankind, 
Who  come  for  help  in  passionate  extremes  ? 

The  Ring  and  the  Book. 

24.  George  William  Curtis , 1824. 

Wholly  distrust  they  knowledge,  then,  and  trust 
As  wholly  love  allied  to  ignorance  ! 

There  lies  thy  truth  and  safety.  Love  is  praise, 
And  praise  is  love  ! Ferishtah’s  Fancies. 

25.  Sir  Christopher  Wren  died , 1723. 

Each  chooses,  none  gainsays 
The  fancy  of  his  fellow,  a paradise  for  him, 

A hell  for  all  beside.  You  can  but  crown  the  brim 
O’  the  cup  ; if  it  be  full,  what  matters  less  or 
more  ? Fifine  at  the  Fair. 


FEBRUARY  26-29 


26.  Victor  Hugo , 1802. 

Never  enough  faith  in  omnipotence  — 

Never  too  much,  by  parity,  of  faith 
In  impuissance,  man’s  — which  turns  to  strength 
When  once  acknowledged  weakness  every  wav. 

Ferishtah’s  Fancies. 

27.  Henry  Wadsworth  Longfellow , 1807. 
Because  a man  has  shop  to  mind 

In  time  and  place,  since  flesh  must  live, 

Needs  spirit  lack  all  life  behind, 

All  stray  thoughts,  fancies  fugitive, 

All  loves  except  what  trade  can  give  ? Shop. 

28.  Michel  de  Montaigne , 1533. 

Once  the  verse  laid  on  shelf, 

The  picture  turned  to  wall,  the  music  fled  from 
ear,  — 

Each  beauty,  born  of  each,  grows  clearer  and  more 
clear, 

Mine  henceforth,  ever  mine  ! Fifine  at  the  Fair. 

29.  Rossini , 1792. 

How  soon  a smile  of  God  can  change  the  world  ! 
How  are  we  made  for  happiness  — how  work 
Grows  play,  adversity  a winning  fight  ! 

In  a Balcony. 


MARCH  1-3 


1.  William  Dean  Howells , 1837. 

Everywhere 

I see  in  the  world  the  intellect  of  man, 

That  sword,  the  energy  his  subtle  spear, 

The  knowledge  which  defends  him  like  a shield  — 
Everywhere  ; but  they  make  not  up,  I think, 

The  marvel  of  a soul  like  thine,  earth’s  flower 
She  holds  up  to  the  softened  gaze  of  God  ! 

The  Ring  and  the  Book. 

2.  Pope  Leo  XIII.,  1810. 

Be  sure  that  God 

Ne’er  dooms  to  waste  the  strength  He  deigns  im- 
part ! 

Ask  the  gier-eagle  why  she  stoops  at  once 
Into  the  vast  and  unexplored  abyss, 

What  full-grown  power  informs  her  from  the  first, 
Why  she  not  marvels,  strenuously  beating 
The  silent  boundless  regions  of  the  sky  ! 

Be  sure  they  sleep  not  whom  God  needs. 

Paracelsus. 

3.  Edmund  Waller , 1606. 

Better  have  failed  in  the  high  aim,  as  I, 
Than  vulgarly  in  the  low  aim  succeed 
As,  God  be  thanked,  I do  not ! 

The  Inn  Album. 


MARCH  4-7 


4.  Flora  Macdonald  died,  1790. 

In  this  world,  who  can  do  a thing,  will  not  ; 

And  who  would  do  it,  cannot,  I perceive  ; 

Yet  the  will ’s  somewhat  — somewhat  too  the 
power  — 

And  thus  we  half  men  struggle.  At  the  end, 

God,  I conclude,  compensates,  punishes. 

Andrea  del  Sarto. 

5.  James  Madison , 1751. 

If  you  loved  only  what  were  worth  your  love, 
Love  were  clear  gain  and  wholly  well  for  you  : 
Make  the  low  nature  better  for  your  throes  ! 

Give  earth  yourself,  go  up  for  gain  above  ! 

James  Lee’s  Wipe. 

6.  Elizabeth  Barrett  Browning , 1809. 

Never  may  I commence  my  song,  my  due 
To  God  who  best  taught  song  by  gift  of  thee, 
Except  with  bent  head  and  beseeching  hand  — 
That  still,  despite  the  distance  and  the  dark, 
What  was,  again  may  be  ; some  interchange 
Of  grace,  some  splendor  once  thy  very  thought, 
Some  benediction  anciently  thy  smile. 

The  Ring  and  the  Book. 

7.  Sir  Edwin  Landseer , 1802. 

For  unsuccess,  explain  it  how  you  will, 
Disqualifies  you,  makes  you  doubt  yourself, 

— Much  more,  is  found  decisive  by  your  friends. 

The  Ring  and  the  Book. 


MARCH  8-10 


8.  A.  H.  Layard , 1817. 

Therefore  to  whom  turn  I but  to  thee  the  ineffable 
Name  ? 

Builder  and  Maker,  thou,  of  houses  not  made  with 
hands ! 

What,  have  fear  of  change  from  thee  who  art  ever 
the  same  ? 

Doubt  that  thy  power  can  fill  the  heart  that  thy 
power  expands  ? 

There  shall  never  be  one  lost  good  ! What  was 
shall  live  as  before.  abt  Vogler. 

9.  William  Cobbett , 1762. 

As  we  broke  up  that  old  faith  of  the  world. 

Have  we,  next  age,  to  break  up  this  the  new  — 
Faith,  in  the  thing,  grown  faith  in  the  report  — 
Whence  need  to  bravely  disbelieve  report 
Through  increased  faith  in  thing  reports  belie  ? 
Correct  the  portrait  by  the  living  face, 

Man’s  God  by  God’s  God  in  the  mind  of  man  ? 

The  Ring  and  the  Book. 

10.  William  Etty,  1787. 

What  right  have  you  to  set 
The  thoughtless  foot  upon  her  life  and  mine, 

And  then  say,  as  we  perish,  “ Had  1 thought 
All  had  gone  otherwise.” 

A Blot  in  the  ’Scutcheon. 


MARCH  1113 


11.  Torquato  Tasso , 1544. 

What  is  it,  at  last, 

But  selfishness  without  example  ? None 

Could  trace  God’s  will  so  plain  as  you,  while  yours 

Remained  implied  in  it  ; but  now  you  fail, 

And  we,  who  prate  about  that  will,  are  fools  ! 

In  short,  God’s  service  is  established  here 
As  He  determines  fit,  and  not  your  way, 

And  this  you  cannot  brook  ! Such  discontent 
Is  weak.  Renounce  all  creatureship  at  once  ! 
Affirm  an  absolute  right  to  have  and  use 
Your  energies  ; as  though  the  rivers  should  say  — 

“ We  rush  to  the  ocean  ; what  have  we  to  do 
With  feeding  streamlets,  lingering  in  the  vales, 
Sleeping  in  lazy  pools  ? ” Paracelsus. 

12.  Bishop  Berkeley , 1684. 

But  — shop  each  day  and  all  day  long  ! 

Friend,  your  good  angel  slept,  your  star 
Suffered  eclipse,  fate  did  you  wrong  ! 

From  where  these  sorts  of  treasures  are, 

There  should  our  hearts  be  — Christ,  how  far  ! 

Shop. 

13.  Joseph  Priestley , 1733. 

God  be  thanked,  the  meanest  of  his  creatures 
Boasts  two  soul  sides,  one  to  face  the  world  with, 
One  to  show  a woman  when  he  loves  her. 

One  Word  More. 


MARCH  14-17 


14.  Robert  Owen , 1771. 

There  shall  never  be  one  lost  good  ! What  was 
shall  live  as  before  : 

The  evil  is  null,  is  nought,  is  silence  implying  sound  : 
What  was  good,  shall  be  good,  with,  for  evil,  so 
much  good  more  : 

On  the  earth  the  broken  arcs  ; in  the  heaven,  a per- 
fect round.  abt  Vogler. 

15.  Andrew  Jackson , 1767. 

And  just  because  I was  thrice  as  old, 

And  our  paths  in  the  world  diverged  so  wide, 
Each  was  nought  to  each,  must  I be  told  ? 

We  were  fellow  mortals,  nought  beside  ? 

Evelyn  Hope. 

16.  Caroline  L.  Herschel , 1750. 

No,  indeed  ! for  God  above 

Is  mighty  to  grant,  as  mighty  to  make, 

And  creates  the  love  to  reward  the  love  ; 

I claim  you  still,  for  my  own  love’s  sake. 

Evelyn  Hope. 

17.  Madame  Roland , 1754. 

Echoes  die  off,  scarcely  reverberate 
Forever,  — why  should  ill  keep  echoing  ill 
And  never  let  our  ears  have  done  with  noise  ? 

The  Ring  and  the  Book. 


MARCH  18-20 


18.  Francis  Lieber , 1800. 

The  pattern  on  the  Mount  subsists  no  more, 
Seemed  awhile,  then  returned  to  nothingness  ; 

But  copies,  Moses  strove  to  make  thereby, 

Serve  still  and  are  replaced  as  time  requires  ; 

By  them  make  newest  vessels,  reach  the  type  ! 

If  ye  demur,  this  judgment  on  your  head, 

Never  to  reach  the  ultimate  angels’  law, 

Indulging  every  instinct  of  the  soul 

There  where  law,  life,  -joy,  impulse  are  one  thing  ! 

A Death  in  the  Desert. 

19.  David  Livingstone , 1813. 

Oh,  what  a dawn  of  day  ! 

How  the  March  sun  feels  like  May  ! 

All  is  blue  again 
After  last  night’s  rain, 

And  the  South  dries  the  hawthorn-spray. 

Only,  my  Love ’s  away  ! 

I ’d  as  lief  that  the  blue  were  gray. 

A Lover’s  Quarrel. 

20.  Sir  Isaac  Newton  died , 1727. 

There  may  be  Heaven  ; there  must  be  Hell  ; 
Meantime,  there  is  our  earth  here  — well  ! 

Time’s  Revenges. 


MARCH  21-24 


21.  Cranmer  burnt , 1556. 

No,  when  the  fight  begins  within  himself, 

A man ’s  worth  something  — God  stoops  o’er  his 
head, 

Satan  looks  up  between  his  feet  — both  tug  — 

He ’s  left,  himself,  i’  the  middle  ; the  soul  wakes 
And  grows  — Prolong  that  battle  through  his  life  ! 
Never  leave  growing  till  the  life  to  come  ! 

Bishop  Blougram’s  Apology. 

22.  Emperor  William  of  Germany , 1797. 

You  are  Christians  ; somehow,  no  one  ever  plucked 
A rag,  even,  from  the  body  of  the  Lord 
To  wear  and  mock  with,  but,  despite  himself, 

He  looked  the  greater  and  was  the  better. 

The  Ring  and  the  Book. 

23.  Pierre  Simon  Laplace , 1749. 

Constance,  I know  not  how  it  is  with  men, 

For  women  (I  am  a woman  now  like  you) 

There  is  no  good  of  life  but  love  — but  love  ! 

What  else  looks  good,  is  some  shade  flung  from 
love  ; 

Love  gilds  it,  gives  it  worth.  In  a Balcony. 

24.  Longfellow  died , 1882. 

Ah,  but  a man’s  reach  should  exceed  his  grasp, 

Or  what ’s  a heaven  for  ? Andrea  del  Sarto. 


MARCH  25-27 


25.  Palm  Sunday . 

There  is,  beside  the  works,  a tale  of  Thee 
In  the  world’s  mouth  which  I find  credible; 

I love  it  with  my  heart : unsatisfied, 

I try  it  with  my  reason,  nor  discept 

From  any  point  I probe  and  pronounce  sound. 

Beyond  the  tale,  I reach  into  the  dark, 

Feel  what  I cannot  see,  and  still  faith  stands. 

The  Ring  and  the  Book. 

26.  Nathaniel  Bowditch,  1773. 

My  own  hope  is,  a sun  will  pierce 

The  thickest  cloud  Earth  ever  stretched  ; 

That  after  Last,  returns  the  First, 

Though  a wide  compass  round  be  fetched; 

That  what  began  best,  can’t  end  worst, 

Nor  what  God  blessed  once,  prove  accurst. 

Apparent  Failure. 

27.  Vera  Cruz  taken  by  Scott,  1847. 

Just  as  I cannot,  till  myself  convinced, 

Impart  conviction,  so,  to  deal  forth  joy 
Adroitly,  needs  must  I know  joy  myself. 
Renounce  joy  for  my  fellow’s  sake  ? That ’s  joy 
Beyond  joy.  Ferishtah’s  Fancies. 


MARCH  28-31 


28.  Thomas  Clarkson , 1760. 

“Friend,”  quoth  Ferishtah,  “all  I seem  to  know 
Is  — I know  nothing  save  that  love  I can 
Boundlessly,  endlessly.”  Ferishtah’s  Fancies. 

29.  Swedenborg  died , 1772. 

“Forsake  the  Christ  thou  sawest  transfigured,  Him 
Who  trod  the  sea  and  brought  the  dead  to  life  ? 
What  should  wring  this  from  thee  ! ” — ye  laugh 
and  ask. 

What  wrung  it  ? Even  a torchlight  and  a noise, 
And  fear  of  what  the  Jews  might  do  ! Just  that, 
And  it  is  written,  “ I forsook  and  fled  : ” 

There  was  my  trial,  and  it  ended  thus. 

Ay,  but  my  soul  had  gained  its  truth,  could  grow. 

A Death  in  the  Desert. 

30.  Good  Friday. 

’T  was  a thief  said  the  last  kind  word  to  Christ  ; 
Christ  took  the  kindness  and  forgave  the  theft. 

The  Ring  and  the  Book. 

31.  Joseph  Haydn , 1732. 

Such  ever  was  love’s  way  ; to  rise  it  stoops. 

A Death  in  the  Desert. 


APRIL  1-4 


1.  Easter. 

Good,  to  forgive  : 

Best,  to  forget ! 

Living,  we  fret  : 

Dying,  we  live. 

Fretless  and  free, 

Soul,  clap  thy  pinion  ! 

Earth  have  dominion, 

Body,  o’er  thee  ! Pisgah-Sights. 

2.  Hans  Christian  Andersen , 1805. 
Euripides  grown  calm  ! 

Calmness  supreme  means  dead  and  therefore  safe. 

Aristophanes’  Apology. 

3.  George  Herbert , 1593. 

O thou  soul  of  my  soul  ! I shall  clasp  thee  again, 
And  with  God  be  the  rest ! Prospice. 

4.  James  Freeman  Clarke , 1810. 

For  the  preacher’s  merit  or  demerit, 

It  were  to  be  wished  the  flaws  were  fewer 
In  the  earthen  vessel,  holding  treasure 
Which  lies  as  safe  in  a golden  ewer  ; 

But  the  main  thing  is,  does  it  hold  good  measure  ? 
Heaven  soon  sets  right  all  other  matters  ! 

Christmas-Eve. 


APRIL  5-7 


5.  Sir  Henry  Havelock , 1795. 

This  way,  men  are  men, 

No  difference  ! best  and  worst,  they  love  their  boys 
After  one  fashion  ; wealth  they  differ  in  — 

Some  have  it,  others  not  : but  each  and  all 
Combine  to  form  the  child  ren-loving  race. 

Herakles. 

6.  Baphael  born , 1483  ; died , 1520. 

Was  there  nought  better  than  to  enjoy  ? 

No  feat  which  done,  should  make  time  break, 
And  let  us  pent-up  creatures  through 
Into  eternity,  our  due  ? 

No  forcing  earth  teach  heaven’s  employ  ? 

No  grasping  at  love,  gaining  a share 

O’  the  sole  spark  from  God’s  life  at  strife 
With  death,  so,  sure  of  range  above 
The  limits  here  ? For  us  and  love 
Failure  ; but,  when  God  fails,  despair. 

Dfs  Aliter  Visium. 

7.  William  Wordsworth,  1770. 

Into  the  truth  of  things  — 
Out  of  their  falseness  rise,  and  reach  thou  and  re- 
main ! Fifine  at  the  Fair. 


APRIL  8-1  1 


8.  George  Washington  Greene , 1811. 

Oh,  to  be  in  England 
Now  that  April ’s  there, 

And  whoever  wakes  in  England 
Sees,  some  morning,  unaware, 

That  the  lowest  boughs  and  the  brushwood  sheaf 
Round  the  elm-tree  bole  are  in  tiny  leaf, 

While  the  chaffinch  sings  on  the  orchard  bough 
In  England  — now  ! Home  Thoughts  feom  Abroad. 

9.  Adelina  Patti , 1843. 

All  is  best,  believe, 
And  we  best  as  no  other  than  we  are. 

In  a Balcony. 

10.  Hortense  de  Beauharnais , 1783. 

Never  again  elude  the  choice  of  tints  ! 

White  shall  not  neutralize  the  black,  nor  good 
Compensate  bad  in  man,  absolve  him  so  : 

Life’s  business  being  just  the  terrible  choice. 

The  Ring  and  the  Book. 

11.  Edward  Everett , 1794. 

Mere  largeness  in  a life  is  something,  sure,  — 
Enough  to  care  about  and  struggle  for. 

Colombe’s  Birthday. 


APRIL  12-14 


12.  Henry  Clay , 1777. 

Had  I no  experience  how  a lip’s  mere  tremble, 
Look’s  half  hesitation,  cheek’s  just  change  of  color, 
These  effect  a heartquake,  — how  should  I con- 
ceive 

What  a heaven  there  may  be  ? Let  it  but  resemble 
Earth  myself  have  known  ! No  bliss  that’s  finer, 
fuller, 

Only  — bliss  that  lasts,  they  say,  and  fain  would  I 
believe.  Ferishtah’s  Fancies. 


13.  Thomas  Wentworth,  Earl  of  Strafford , 1593. 

So  absolutely  good  is  truth,  truth  never  hurts 
The  teller,  whose  worst  crime  gets  somehow  grace 
avowed.  Fifine  at  the  Fair. 

14.  Lincoln  assassinated , 1865. 

Fool  not  thus 

In  practising  with  life  and  its  delights  ! 

Enjoy  the  present  gift,  nor  wait  to  know 
The  unknowable  — Enough  to  say  “ I feel 
Love’s  sure  effect,  and  being  loved,  must  love 
The  love  its  cause  behind  — I can  and  do  ” ! 

Ferishtah’s  Fancies. 


APRIL  15-17 


15.  Louis  Adolph  Thiers , 1797. 

Knowledge  means 
Ever-renewed  assurance  by  defeat 
That  victory  is  somehow  still  to  reach  : 

But  love  is  victory,  the  prize  itself  ; 

Love  trust  to  ! Be  rewarded  for  the  trust 
In  trust’s  mere  act.  In  love  success  is  sure, 
Attainment  — no  delusion  — whatsoe’er 
The  prize  be  : apprehended  as  a prize, 

A prize  it  is.  Ferishtah’s  Fancies. 

16.  Sir  John  Franklin , 1786. 

My  whole  life  long  I learned  to  love. 

This  hour  my  utmost  art  I prove 
And  speak  my  passion  — heaven  or  hell  ? 

She  will  not  give  me  heaven  ? ’T  is  well  ! 
Lose  who  may  — I still  can  say, 

Those  who  win  heaven,  blest  are  they  ! 

One  Way  of  Love. 

17.  William  Gilmore  Simms , 1806. 

Men  being  mortal  should  think  mortal-like  ; 
Since  to  your  solemn,  brow-contracting  sort, 
All  of  them,  — so  I lay  down  law  at  least,  — 
Life  is  not  truly  life  but  misery. 

Balaustion’s  Adventure. 


APRIL  18-21 


18.  George  H.  Lewes , 1817. 

Then  welcome  each  rebuff 

That  turns  earth’s  smoothness  rough, 

Each  sting  that  bids  nor  sit  nor  stand  but  go  ! 

Be  our  joys  three  parts  pain  ! 

Strive  and  hold  cheap  the  strain  ; 

Learn,  nor  account  the  pang  ; dare,  never  grudge 
the  throe  ! Rabbi  Ben  Ezra. 

19.  Lexington  and  Concord , 1775. 

By  proved  potency  that  still 
Makes  perfect,  be  assured  come  what  come  will, 
What  once  lives  never  dies  — what  here  attains 
To  a beginning,  has  no  end,  still  gains 
And  never  loses  aught  ; when,  where,  and  how  — 
Lies  in  Law’s  lap.  Parleyings. 

20.  Napoleon  III.,  1808. 

For,  what  are  the  voices  of  birds 
— Ay,  and  of  beasts,  — but  words  — our  words, 
Only  so  much  more  sweet  ? Pippa  Passes. 

21.  Charlotte  Bronte , 1816. 

We  are  beside  thee,  in  all  thy  ways, 

With  our  blame,  with  our  praise, 

Our  shame  to  feel,  our  pride  to  show, 

Glad,  sorry  — but  indifferent,  no  ! 

The  Flight  of  the  Duchess. 


APRIL  22-24 


22.  Madame  de  Stael , 1766. 

The  Lady’s  face  stopped  its  play, 

As  if  her  first  hair  had  grown  gray  — 

For  such  things  must  begin  some  one  day  ! 

In  a day  or  two  she  was  well  again  ; 

As  who  should  say,  4 4 You  labor  in  vain  ! 

This  is  all  a jest  against  God,  who  meant 
I should  ever  be,  as  I am,  content 
And  glad  in  his  sight  ; therefore,  glad  I will  be  ” ! 
So,  smiling  as  at  first  went  she. 

The  Flight  of  the  Duchess. 


23.  Shakespeare  horn , 1564 ; died , 1616. 

I spoke  as  I saw. 

I report,  as  a man  may  of  God’s  work  — all ’s  love, 
yet  all ’s  law.  Saul. 

24.  Anthony  Trollope , 1815. 

Truth  is  within  ourselves  : it  takes  no  rise 
From  outward  things,  whate’er  you  may  believe  ; 
There  is  an  inmost  centre  in  us  all, 

Where  truth  abides  in  fulness  ; and  around 
Wall  upon  wall,  the  gross  flesh  hems  it  in, 

This  perfect,  clear  perception  — which  is  truth. 

Paracelsus. 


APRIL  25-28 


25.  John  Keble , 1792. 

Love,  hope,  fear,  faith  — these  make  humanity  ; 
These  are  its  sign,  and  note,  and  character. 

Paracelsus. 

26.  David  Hume , 1711. 

If  we  have  souls,  know  how  to  see  and  use, 

One  place  performs,  like  any  other  place, 

The  proper  service  every  place  on  earth 
Was  framed  to  furnish  man  with  ; serves  alike 
To  give  him  note  that,  through  the  place  he  sees, 
A place  is  signified  he  never  saw, 

But  if  he  lacks  not  soul,  may  learn  to  know. 

Red  Cotton  Night-Cap  Country. 

27.  Edward  Gibbon , 1737. 

For  if  you  would  remember  me  aright  — 

As  I was  born  to  be  — you  must  forget 
All  fitful,  strange,  and  moody  waywardness 
Which  e’er  confused  my  better  spirit,  to  dwell 
Only  on  moments  such  as  these,  dear  friends  ! 
My  heart  no  truer,  but  my  words  and  ways 
More  true  to  it.  Paracelsus. 

28.  James  Monroe , 1758. 

Speed  that  may  ! 

Whatever  be  my  chance  or  my  despair, 
What  benefits  mankind  must  glad  me  too. 

Paracelsus. 


APRIL  29  — MAY  1 


29.  David  Cox , 1783. 

All  nature  self-abandoned,  every  tree 
Flung  as  it  will,  pursuing  its  own  thoughts 
And  fixed  so,  every  flower  and  every  weed, 

No  pride,  no  shame,  no  victory,  no  defeat ; 

All  under  God,  each  measured  by  itself. 

See  God’s  approval  on  his  universe  ! 

Let  us  do  so  — aspire  to  live  as  these 
In  harmony  with  truth,  ourselves  being  true  ! 

In  a Balcony. 

30.  James  Montgomery , died,  1854. 

But  Art,  — wherein  man  nowise  speaks  to  men, 
Only  to  mankind,  — Art  may  tell  a truth 
Obliquely,  do  the  thing  shall  breed  the  thought, 
Nor  wrong  the  thought,  missing  the  mediate  word. 

The  Ring  and  the  Book. 


MAY 

1.  Duke  of  Wellington , 1769. 

There  must  be  many  a pair  of  friends 
Who,  arm  in  arm,  deserve  the  warm 
Moon  births  and  the  long  evening  ends. 

So  for  their  sakes,  be  May  still  May  ! 

Let  their  new  time,  as  mine  of  old, 

Do  all  it  did  for  me  ; I bid 

Sweet  sights  and  sounds  throng  manifold. 

May  and  Death. 


MAY  2-5 


2.  John  Gorham  Palfrey , 1796. 

O world,  as  God  has  made  it  ! All  is  beauty  : 
And  knowing  this  is  love,  and  love  is  duty. 

The  Guardian  Angel. 

3.  Nicolas  Macchiavelli , 1469. 

You  only  do  right  to  believe  you  will  get  better 
as  you  get  older  ! All  men  do  so,  — they  are  worst 
in  childhood,  improve  in  manhood,  and  get  ready  in 
old  age  for  another  world.  a Soul’s  Tragedy. 

4.  William  Hickling  Prescott , 1796. 

’T  is  not  what  man  Does  which  exalts  him,  but 

what  man  would  do  ! 

See  the  king  — I would  help  him,  but  cannot,  the 
wishes  fall  through. 

Could  I wrestle  to  raise  him  from  sorrow,  grow  poor 
to  enrich, 

To  fill  up  his  life,  starve  my  own  out,  I would  — 
knowing  which, 

I know  that  my  service  is  perfect.  Saul. 

5.  Empress  Eugenie,  1826. 

Life  means  — learning  to  abhor 
The  false,  and  love  the  true,  truth  treasured  snatch 
by  snatch, 

Waifs  counted  at  their  worth.  Fifine  at  the  Fair. 


MAY  6-8 


6.  Assassination  of  Cavendish  and  Burke}  1882. 
That ’s  the  wise  thrush  ; he  sings  each  song  twice 
over, 

Lest  you  should  think  he  never  could  recapture 
The  first  fine  careless  rapture  ! 

Home-Thoughts,  from  Abroad. 


7.  Robert  Browning , 1812. 

Ah,  that  brave 

Bounty  of  poets,  the  one  royal  race 
That  ever  was,  or  will  be,  in  the  world  ! 

They  give  no  gift  that  bounds  itself  and  ends 
I’  the  giving  and  the  taking  : theirs  so  breeds 
I’  the  heart  and  soul  o’  the  taker,  so  transmutes 
The  man  who  only  was  a man  before, 

That  he  grows  godlike  in  his  turn,  can  give  — 

He  also  : share  the  poet’s  privilege, 

Bring  forth  new  good,  new  beauty,  from  the  old. 

Balaustion’s  Adventure. 

8.  Le  Sage , 1688. 

What  were  life 

Did  soul  stand  still  therein,  forego  her  strife 
Through  the  ambiguous  Present  to  the  goal 
Of  some  all-reconciling  Future  ? Parleyings. 


MAY  9-12 


9.  Schiller  died , 1805. 

But  love  is  the  everspringing  fountain : 

Man  may  enlarge  or  narrow  its  bed 

For  the  water’s  play,  but  the  water-head  — 

How  can  he  multiply  or  reduce  it  ? 

Christmas-Eve. 

10.  Rouget  de  Lisle , 1760. 

Such  a starved  bank  of  moss 
Till  that  May-morn, 

Blue  ran  the  flash  across  ; 

Violets  were  born  ! 

World  — how  it  walled  about 
Life  with  disgrace 
Till  God’s  own  smile  came  out  ; 

That  was  thy  face  ! Apparitions. 

11.  Dr.  John  Brown  died , 1882. 

God’s  finger  marks  distinctions,  all  so  fine, 

We  would  confound  — the  Lesser  has  its  use, 
Which,  when  it  apes  the  Greater  is  foregone, 

Luria. 

12.  Dante  Gabriel  Rossetti , 1828. 

I did  for  once  see  right,  do  right,  give  tongue 
The  adequate  protest  : for  a worm  must  turn 
If  it  would  have  its  wrong  observed  by  God. 

The  Ring  and  the  Book. 


MAY  13-16 


13.  Alphonse  Daudet , 1840. 

God  ! Thou  art  Love  ! I build  my  faith  on  that  ! 

I know  thee,  thou  hast  kept  my  path  and  made 
Light  for  me  in  the  darkness  — tempering  sorrow, 
So  that  it  reached  me  like  a solemn  joy  : 

It  were  too  strange  that  I should  doubt  thy  love. 

Paracelsus. 


14.  Lord  Macartney , 1737. 

Ten  men  love  what  I hate, 

Shun  what  I follow,  slight  what  I receive  ; 

Ten,  who  in  ears  and  eyes 
Match  me  ; we  all  surmise, 

They,  this  thing,  and  I,  that  ; whom  shall  my  soul 
believe  ? Rabbi  Ben  Ezra. 

15.  Edmund  Kean  died , 1833. 

Make  for  port, 

Crowd  sail,  crack  cordage  ! And  your  cargo  be 
A polished  presence,  a genteel  manner,  wit 
At  will,  and  tact  at  every  pore  of  you  ! 

The  Ring  and  the  Book. 

16.  William  H.  Seward , 1801. 

Prayers  move  God  ; threats,  and  nothing  else  move 
men  ! The  Ring  and  the  Book. 


MAY  17-19 


17.  Dr.  Edward  Jenner , 1749. 

Let  Spring  come  : why,  a man  salutes  her  thus  : 

Dance,  yellows  and  whites  and  reds  — 

Lead  your  gay  orgy,  leaves,  stalks,  heads 
Astir  with  the  wind  in  the  tulip-beds  ! 

There  ’s  sunshine  : scarcely  a wind  at  all 
Disturbs  starved  grass  and  daisies  small 
On  a certain  mound  by  a churchyard  wall. 

Daisies  and  grass  be  my  heart’s  bedfellows 
On  the  mound  wind  spares  and  sunshine  mellows  : 
Dance  you,  reds  and  whites  and  yellows. 

Parleyings. 

18.  Don  Carlos  relinquishes  crown  of  Spain,  1845. 
If  we  could  wait  ! The  only  fault ’s  with  Time  : 
All  men  become  good  creatures,  — but  so  slow  ! 

Luria. 


19.  Hawthorne  died,  1864. 

We  are  not  babes,  but  know  the  minute’s  worth, 
And  feel  that  life  is  large  and  the  world  small, 
So,  wait  till  life  have  passed  from  out  the  world. 

The  Ring  and  the  Book. 


MAY  20-23 


20.  John  Stuart  Mill , 1806. 

Was  this  true  ? 

Could  man  indeed  avail,  mere  praise  of  his, 

To  help  by  rapture  God’s  own  rapture  too, 

Thrill  with  a heart’s  red  tinge  that  pure  pale  bliss 

Epilogue. 


21.  John  IJookham  Frere , 1769. 

How  inexhaustibly  the  spirit  grows  ! 

One  object,  she  seemed  erewhile  born  to  reach 
With  her  whole  energies  and  die  content, 

So  like  a wall  at  the  world’s  end  it  stood, 

With  nought  beyond  to  live  for,  — is  it  reached 
Already  are  new  undreamed  energies 
Outgrowing  under  and  extending  further 
To  a new  object  ; there ’s  another  world  ! 

Luria. 

22.  Richard  Wagner , 1813. 

I took  you  — how  could  I otherwise  ? 

For  a world  to  me,  and  more  ; 

For  all,  love  greatens  and  glorifies 
Till  God ’s  a-glow,  to  the  loving  eyes 
In  what  was  mere  earth  before. 

James  Lee’s  Wife. 

23.  Thomas  Hood , 1798. 

Respect  all  such  as  sing  when  all  alone. 

Paracelsus. 


MAY  24-26 


24.  Queen  Victoria,  1819. 

A breath  of  God  made  manifest  in  flesh 
Subjects  the  world  to  change  from  time  to  time  ; 
Alters  the  whole  conditions  of  our  race 
Abruptly,  not  by  unperceived  degrees, 

Nor  play  of  elements  already  there, 

But  quite  new  leaven,  leavening  the  lump, 

And  liker,  so,  the  natural  process. 

Prince  Hohenstiel  Schwangau. 

25.  j Ralph  Waldo  Emerson , 1803. 

There  is  a vision  in  the  heart  of  each 
Of  justice,  mercy,  wisdom  ; tenderness 
To  wrong  and  pain,  and  knowledge  of  its  cure  — 
And  these,  embodied  in  a woman’s  form 
That  best  transmits  them,  pure  as  first  received, 
From  God  above  her,  to  mankind  below. 

Colombe's  Birthday. 

26.  Count  Zinzendorf,  1700. 

There  is 

Heaven,  since  there  is  Heaven’s  simulation  — earth  ; 

I sit  possessed  in  patience  : prison-roof 

Shall  break  one  day  and  Heaven  beam  over-head  ! 

The  Inn  Album. 


MAY  27-29 


27.  Dante  Alighieri , 1265. 

Yet  my  poor  spark  had  for  its  source,  the  sun  : 
Thither  I sent  the  great  looks  which  compel 
Light  from  its  fount  : all  that  I do  or  am 
Comes  from  the  truth,  or  seen  or  else  surmised, 
Remembered  or  divined,  as  mere  man  may  : 

I know  just  so,  nor  otherwise. 

The  Ring  and  the  Book. 

28.  Louis  Agassiz , 1807. 

And  thus  looking  within  and  around  me,  I ever 
renew 

(With  that  stoop  of  the  soul  which  in  bending  up- 
raises it  too) 

The  submission  of  man’s  nothing-perfect  to  God’s 
all-complete, 

As  by  each  new  obeisance  in  spirit  I climb  to  his 
feet.  Saul. 


29.  Patrick  Henry,  1736. 

If  this  world  last 

One  moment  longer  when  man  finds  its  Past 
Exceed  its  Present  — blame  the  Protoplast ! 

If  we  no  longer  see  as  you  of  old, 

’T  is  we  see  deeper  — Progress  for  the  bold  ! 

Parleyings. 


MAY  30- JUNE  2 


30.  Peter  the  Great , 1672. 

Why  complain  ? Art  thou  so  unsuspicious 

That  all ’s  for  an  hour  of  essaying 

Who  ’s  fit  and  who ’s  unfit  for  playing 

His  part  in  the  after-construction 

— Heaven’s  Piece  whereof  Earth ’s  the  Induction  ? 

Things  rarely  go  smooth  at  Rehearsal  — 

Wait  patient  the  change  universal, 

And  act,  and  let  act,  in  existence  ! Pacchiarotto. 

31.  John  Albion  Andrew , 1818. 

I find  earth  not  gray  but  rosy, 

Heaven  not  grim  but  fair  of  hue. 

Do  I stoop  ? I pluck  a posy. 

Do  I stand  and  stare  ? All ’s  blue. 

At  the  Mermaid. 

JUNE 

1.  Prince  Imperial  killed , 1879. 

How  good  is  man’s  life  here,  mere  living ! 
How  fit  to  employ 

The  heart  and  the  soul  and  the  senses 

Forever  in  joy  ! Saul. 

2.  John  Randolph , 1773. 

In  mercy  he  was  strong,  at  all  events. 

Enough  ! he  could  not  see  a beast  in  pain, 
Much  less  a man,  without  the  will  to  aid. 

Red  Cotton  Night-cap  Country. 


JUNE  3-5 


3.  Sydney  Smith , 1T71. 

Why  must  the  sin  conceived  thus,  bring  forth 
death  ? 

I note  how,  within  hair’s  breadth  of  escape, 
Impunity  and  the  thing  supposed  success, 

Guido  is  found  when  the  check  comes,  the  change, 
The  monitory  touch  o’  the  tether  — felt 
By  few,  not  marked  by  many,  named  by  none 
At  the  moment,  only  recognized  aright 
I’  the  fulness  of  the  days,  for  God’s,  lest  sin 
Exceed  the  service,  leap  the  line. 

The  Ring  and  the  Book. 


4.  General  Wolseley , 1833. 

Many  a thrill 

Of  kinship  I confess  to  with  the  powers 
Called  nature  ; animate,  inanimate, 

In  parts  or  in  the  whole,  there ’s  something  there 
Man-like,  that,  somehow,  meets  the  man  in  me. 

Prince  Hohenstiel-Schwangau. 

5.  Counts  Egmont  and  Horn  beheaded , 1568. 

Greed  and  strife, 

Hatred  and  cark  and  care,  what  place  have  they 
In  yon  blue  liberality  of  heaven  ? 

Aristophanes’  Apology. 


JUNE  6-9 


6.  William  Francis  Bartlett , 1840. 

This  is  the  spray  the  bird  clung  to, 

Making  it  blossom  with  pleasure, 

Ere  the  high  tree-top  she  sprung  to 
Fit  for  her  nest  and  her  treasure. 

Oh  what  a hope  beyond  measure 
Was  the  poor  spray’s,  which  the  flying  feet  hung 
to  — 

So  to  be  singled  out,  built  in,  and  sung  to  ! 

Misconceptions. 

7.  Millard  Fillmore , 1800. 

This  life  is  training  and  a passage  ; pass  — 
Still,  we  march  over  some  flat  obstacle 
We  made  give  way  before  us  ; solid  truth 
In  front  of  it,  were  motion  for  the  world  ? 

The  moral  sense  grows  but  by  exercise. 

The  Ring  and  the  Book. 

8.  Charles  Beade , 1814. 

The  sorriest  bat  which  cowers  through  noontide, 
While  other  birds  are  jocund,  has  one  time 
When  moon  and  stars  are  blinded,  and  the  prime 
Of  earth  is  his  to  claim,  nor  find  a peer.  Sordello. 

9.  John  Howard  Payne , 1792. 

So  let  us  say  — not  “ since  we  know,  we  love  ” ! 
But  rather,  “ since  we  love,  we  know  enough.” 

Ferishtah’s  Fancies. 


JUNE  10-12 


10.  Francis  L.  IlawJcs , 1798. 

For  thence,  — a paradox 
Which  comforts  while  it  mocks,  — 

Shall  life  succeed  in  that  it  seems  to  fail  : 

What  I aspired  to  be, 

And  was  not,  comforts  me  ; 

A brute  I might  have  been,  but  would  not  sink  i’  the 
scale.  Rabbi  Ben  Ezra. 

11.  Ben  Jonson , 1574. 

Under  a vertical  sun,  the  exposed  brain 
And  lidless  eye  and  disemprisoned  heart 
Less  certainly  would  wither  up  at  once 
Than  mind,  confronted  with  the  truth  of  Him. 
But  time  and  earth  case-harden  us  to  live  : 

The  feeblest  sense  is  trusted  most  ; the  child 
Feels  God  a moment,  ichors  o’er  the  place, 

Plays  on  and  grows  to  be  a man  like  us. 

Bishop  Blougram’s  Apology. 

12.  Charles  Kingsley , 1819. 

Who  knows  which  are  the  wise  and  which  the 
fools  ? 

God  may  take  pleasure  in  confounding  pride, 

By  hiding  secrets  with  the  scorned  and  base. 

He  who  stoops  lowest  may  find  most.  Paracelsus 


JUNE  13-16 


13.  Thomas  Arnold , 1795. 

My  star,  God’s  glow-worm  ! Why  extend 
That  loving  hand  of  His  which  leads  you, 

Yet  locks  you  safe  from  end  to  end 

Of  this  dark  world,  unless  He  needs  you, 

Just  saves  your  light  to  spend  ? Popularity. 

14.  Harriet  Beecher  Stowe , 1811. 

Result,  all  judge  : means,  let  none  scrutinize 
Save  those  aware  how  glory  best  is  gained 
By  daring  means  to  end,  ashamed  of  shame, 
Constant  in  faith  that  only  good  works  good, 
While  evil  yields  no  fruit  but  impotence  ! 

Aristophanes’  Apology. 

15.  The  Black  Prince , 1330. 

“ But  — loved  him  ” ? Friend  I do  not  praise  her  love  l 
True  love  works  never  for  the  loved  one  so, 

Nor  spares  skin- surface,  smoothening  truth  away. 
Love  bids  touch  truth,  endure  truth,  and  embrace 
Truth,  though,  embracing  truth,  love  crush  itself. 
“Worship  not  me,  but  God  ! ” the  angels  urge  : 

That  is  love’s  grandeur. 

Red  Cotton  Night-cap  Country. 

16.  Judah  Touro , 1775. 

Ah  but  the  Best 

Somehow  eludes  us  ever,  still  might  be 
And  is  not  ! Sordello. 


JUNE  17-20 


17.  Battle  of  Bunker  Hill , 1775. 

There ’s  many  a crown  for  who  can  reach. 

Ten  lines,  a statesman’s  life  in  each  ! 

The  flag  stuck  on  a heap  of  bones, 

A soldier’s  doing  ! what  atones  ? 

They  scratch  his  name  on  the  Abbey-stones. 

The  Last  Ride  Together. 

18.  Waterloo , 1815. 

My  pulse  goes  altogether  with  the  heart 
O’  the  Persian,  that  old  Xerxes,  when  he  stayed 
His  march  to  conquest  of  the  world,  a day 
I’  the  desert,  for  the  sake  of  one  superb 
Plane-tree  which  queened  it  there  in  solitude. 

Prince  Hohenstdel-Schwangau. 

19.  Blaise  de  Pascal , 1623. 

If  any  two  creatures  grew  into  one, 

They  would  do  more  than  the  world  has  done  : 
Though  each  apart  were  never  so  weak, 

Yet  vainly  through  the  world  should  ye  seek 
For  the  knowledge  and  the  might 
Which  in  such  union  grew  their  right. 

The  Flight  of  the  Duchess. 

20.  Accession  of  Queen  Victoria,  1837. 

Since  being  true,  devoted,  constant  — she 
Found  constancy,  devotion,  truth,  the  plain 
And  easy  commonplace  of  character. 

The  Inn  Album. 


JUNE  21  - 23 


21.  Bishop  Stubbs , 1825. 

But  soon  my  soul  repairs  its  fault 
When,  sharpening  sense’s  hebetude, 

She  turns  on  my  own  life  ! so  viewed, 

No  mere  mote’s-breadth  but  teems  immense 
With  witnessings  of  Providence  ; 

And  woe  to  me  if  when  I look 

Upon  that  record,  the  sole  book 

Unsealed  to  me,  I take  no  heed 

Of  any  warning  that  I read  ! Christmas-Eve. 

22.  Thomas  Bay , 1748. 

Here  and  there  a touch 
Taught  me,  betimes,  the  artifice  of  things  — 
That  all  about,  external  to  myself, 

Was  meant  to  be  suspected,  — not  revealed 
Demonstrably  a cheat,  — but  half  seen  through. 

Ferishtah’s  Fancies. 

23.  Leibnitz , 1646. 

Who  lives 

With  beasts  assumes  beast-nature  look  and  voice, 
And  much  more,  thought  — for  beasts  think.  Self 
ishness 

In  us  met  selfishness  in  them,  deserved 
Such  answer  as  it  gained. 


The  Inn  Album. 


JUNE  24-26 


24.  Sir  John  Ross , 1777. 

I,  who  saw  power,  see  now  love  perfect  too  : 

\ Perfect  I call  Thy  plan  : 

Thanks  that  I was  a man  ! 

Maker,  remake,  complete,  — I trust  what  Thou  slialt 
do  ! Eabbi  Ben  Ezra. 

25.  Battle  of  Bannockburn,  1314. 

What ’s  death  then  ? Even  now 
With  so  much  knowledge,  is  it  hard  to  bear 
Brief  interposing  ignorance  ? Is  care 
For  a creation  found  at  fault  just  there  — 

There  where  the  heart  breaks  bond  and  outruns 
time 

To  reach  not  follow  what  shall  be  ? Parleyings. 

26.  Philip  Doddridge,  1702. 

Have  you  found  your  life  distasteful  ? 

My  life  did  and  does  smack  sweet. 

Was  your  youth  of  pleasure  wasteful  ? 

Mine  I saved  and  hold  complete. 

Do  your  joys  with  age  diminish  ? 

When  mine  fail  me,  I ’ll  complain, 

Must  in  death  your  daylight  finish  ? 

My  sun  sets  to  rise  again. 

At  the  Mermaid. 

aw 

1 ' 


U.  OF  ILL  LIS. 


JUNE  27-30 


27.  Charles  XII . of  Sweden , 1682. 

This  world ’s  no  blot  for  us 
Nor  blank  ; it  means  intensely,  and  means  good  : 
To  find  its  meaning  is  my  meat  and  drink. 

Fra  Lippo  Lippi. 

28.  Mazziniy  1805. 

Of  all  foes,  fly  the  foolish  one  l 

Wise,  well-bred  people  make  concession  to  ? 

Herakles. 

29.  Mrs . Browning  died , 1861. 

My  own,  see  where  the  years  conduct  ! 

At  first,  ’t  was  something  our  two  souls 
Should  mix  as  mists  do  ; each  is  sucked 
In  each  now  : on,  the  new  stream  rolls. 
Whatever  rocks  obstruct. 

Think  when  our  one  soul  understands 

The  great  Word  which  makes  all  things  new, 
When  earth  breaks  up  and  heaven  expands, 
How  will  the  change  strike  me  and  you 
In  the  house  not  made  with  hands  ? 

By  The  Fireside. 

30.  Horace  V er net , 1789. 

Depend  on  it,  the  change  and  the  surprise 
Are  part  o’  the  plan  : ?t  is  we  wish  steadiness  : 
Nature  prefers  a motion  by  unrest. 

Advancement  through  this  force  that  jostles  that. 

Prince  Hohenstiel-Schwangau. 


JULY  1 -3 


1.  George  Sand , 1804. 

Poor  vaunt  of  life  indeed, 

Were  man  but  formed  to  feed 

On  joy,  to  solely  seek  and  find  and  feast ; 

Such  feasting  ended,  then 
As  sure  an  end  to  men  ; 

Irks  care  the  crop-full  bird  ? Frets  doubt  the 
maw-crammed  beast  ? Rabbi  Ben  Ezra. 

2.  Garfield  shot , 1881. 

In  the  eyes  of  God 

Pain  may  have  purpose  and  be  justified  : 

Man’s  sense  avails  to  only  see,  in  pain, 

A hateful  chance  no  man  but  would  avert, 

Or,  failing,  needs  must  pity.  Thanks  to  God 
And  love  to  man,  — from  man  take  these  away, 
And  what  is  man  worth  ? Ferishtah’s  Fancies. 

3.  Washington  took  command  of  American  Army , 1775. 
Say  not  “ a small  event  ! ” Why  “ small  ? ” 
Costs  it  more  pain  that  this,  ye  call 
A “ great  event,”  should  come  to  pass, 

Than  that  ? Untwine  me  from  the  mass 
Of  deeds  which  make  up  life,  one  deed 
Power  shall  fall  short  in,  or  exceed  ! 


Pippa  Passes. 


JULY  4-7 


4.  John  Adams  and  Thomas  Jefferson  died , 1826. 
But  little  do  or  can  the  best  of  us  ; 

That  little  is  achieved  through  liberty. 

Who  then  dares  hold,  emancipated  thus, 

His  fellow  shall  continue  bound  ? Not  I, 
Who  live,  love,  labor  freely,  nor  discuss 
A brother’s  right  to  freedom.  Sonnet. 

5.  David  G.  Farragut , 1801. 

He  gathers  earth’s  whole  good  into  his  arms 
Standing  as  man,  now,  stately,  strong  and  wise  — 
Marching  to  fortune,  not  surprised  by  her  ; 

One  great  aim  like  a guiding-star  above  — 

Which  tasks  strength,  wisdom,  stateliness  to  lift 
His  manhood  to  the  height  that  takes  the  prize. 

Colombe’s  Birthday. 

6-  John  Huss , 1373. 

A life  to  live,  — and  such  a life  ! a world 
To  learn,  one’s  lifetime  in,  — and  such  a world  ! 
However  did  the  foolish  pass  for  wise 
By  calling  life  a burden,  man  a fly 
Or  worm,  or  what ’s  most  insignificant  ? 

Prince  Hohenstiel-Schwangau. 

7.  Nicholas , Czar  of  Russia , 1796. 

' You  little  fancy  what  rude  shocks  apprise  us 
We  sin  ; God’s  intimations  rather  fail 
In  clearness  than  in  energy.  Paracelsus. 


JULY  8-10 


8.  La  Fontaine , 1621. 

What  imports 

Fasting  or  feasting  ? Do  thy  day’s  work,  dare 
Refuse  no  help  thereto,  — since  help  refused 
Is  hindrance  sought  and  found.  Win  but  the  race  — 
Who  shall  object  — “ He  tossed  three  wine  cups  off, 
And,  just  at  starting,  Lilith  kissed  his  lips  ” ? 

Ferishtah’s  Fancies. 

9.  Henry  Hallam , 1777. 

Doubt  you  if,  in  some  such  moment  as  she  fixed  me, 
she  felt  clearly, 

Ages  past  the  soul  existed,  here  an  age ’t  is  resting 
merely, 

And  hence  fleets  again  for  ages  : while  the  true  end 
sole  and  single, 

It  stops  here  for  is,  this  love-way,  with  some  other 
soul  to  mingle  ? Cristina. 

10.  Captain  Marry  att,  1792. 

I cannot  feed  on  beauty  for  the  sake 
Of  beauty  only  : nor  can  drink  in  balm 
From  lovely  objects  for  their  loveliness  ; 

My  nature  cannot  lose  her  first  intent  ; 

I still  must  hoard,  and  heap,  and  class  all  truths 
With  one  ulterior  purpose  ; I must  know  ! 

Paracelsus. 


JULY  11-14 


11.  Peace  of  Villa  Franca , 1859. 

Because  of  motherhood,  each  male 

Yields  to  his  partner  place,  sinks  proudly  in  the 
scale  ; 

His  strength  owned  weakness,  wit  — folly,  and 
courage  — fear, 

Beside  the  female  proved  male’s  mistress  — only 
here.  Ivan  Ivanovitch. 

12.  Henry  David  Thoreau , 1817. 

For  men  begin  to  pass  their  nature’s  bound, 

And  find  new  hopes  and  cares  which  fast  supplant 
Their  proper  joys  and  griefs  ; and  outgrow  all 
The  narrow  creeds  of  right  and  wrong,  which  fade 
Before  the  unmeasured  thirst  for  good  ; while  peace 
Bises  within  them  ever  more  and  more. 

Paracelsus. 

13.  Agnes  Strickland  died , 1874. 

Your  hopes  and  fears,  so  blind  and  yet  so  sweet 
With  death  about  them.  Balaustion’s  Adventure. 

14.  Jane  Welsh  Carlyle , 1801. 

As  I look  back,  all  is  one  milky  way  ; 

Still  bettered  more,  the  more  remembered,  so 
Do  new  stars  bud  while  I but  search  for  old, 

And  fill  all  gaps  i’  the  glory,  and  grow  him  — 
Him  I now  see  make  the  shine  everywhere. 

The  Ring  and  the  Book. 


JULY  15-17 


15  Cardinal  Manning , 1808. 

So  gazing  up,  in  my  youth,  at  love 
As  seen  through  power,  ever  above 
All  modes  which  make  it  manifest, 

My  soul  brought  all  to  a single  test  — 

That  He,  the  eternal  First  and  Last, 

Who,  in  His  power,  had  so  surpassed 
All  man  conceives  of  what  is  might,  — 

Whose  wisdom,  too,  showed  infinite, 

— Would  prove  as  infinitely  good. 

Christmas-Eve. 

16.  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds , 1723. 

Never  fear  but  there  ’s  provision 
Of  the  devil’s  to  quench  knowledge,  lest  we  walk 
the  earth  in  rapture  ! 

Making  those  who  catch  God’s  secret  just  so  much 
more  prize  their  capture  ! Cristina. 

17.  Isaac  Watts , 1674. 

O lover  of  my  life,  O soldier-saint, 

No  work  begun  shall  ever  pause  for  death  ! 

Love  will  be  helpful  to  me  more  and  more 
I’  the  coming  course,  the  new  path  I must  tread, 
My  weak  hand  in  thy  strong  hand,  strong  for  that  ! 

The  Ring  and  the  Book. 


JULY  18-21 


18.  William  Makepeace  Thackeray , 1811. 
Thou  at  first  prompting  of  what  I call  God, 

And  fools  call  Nature,  didst  hear,  comprehend, 
Accept  the  obligation  laid  on  thee, 

Mother  elect,  to  save  the  unborn  child, 

As  brute  and  bird  do,  reptile  and  the  fly, 

Ay  and,  I nothing  doubt,  even  tree,  shrub,  plant. 
And  flower  o’  the  field,  all  in  a common  pact, 

To  worthily  defend  that  trust  of  trusts, 

Life  from  the  Ever  Living  ! The  Ring  and  the  Book. 

19.  John  Martin , 1789. 

To  any  man  renowned  as  happy  once, 
Reverses  are  a grave  thing  ; but  to  whom 
Evil  is  old  acquaintance,  there  ’s  no  hurt 
To  speak  of,  he  and  misery  are  twins. 

Herakles. 

20.  Petrarch , 1304. 

Are  there  not,  Festus,  are  there  not  Michal, 
Two  points  in  the  adventure  of  the  diver, 

One  — when  a beggar,  he  prepares  to  plunge  ? 
One  — when  a prince,  he  rises  with  his  pearl  ? 

Paracelsus. 


21.  Bohert  Burns  died , 1796. 

Once  sold  the  ware  and  pursed  the  pelf, 
Chaffer  was  scarce  his  meat  and  drink, 

Nor  all  his  music  — money-chink.  shop. 


JULY  22-24 


22.  Garibaldi , 1807. 

Oh  which  were  best,  to  roam  or  rest  ? 

The  land’s  lap  or  the  water’s  breast  ? 

To  sleep  on  yellow  millet-sheaves, 

Or  swim  in  lucid  shallows,  just 
Eluding  water-lily  leaves, 

An  inch  from  Death’s  black  fingers,  thrust 
To  lock  you,  whom  release  he  must  ; 
Which  life  were  best  on  summer  eves  ? 

In  a Gondola. 

23.  Coventry  Patmore , 1816. 

I have  not  chanted  verse  like  Homer,  no  — 

Nor  swept  string  like  Terpander,  — no  nor  carved 
And  painted  men  like  Phidias  and  his  friend  : 

I am  not  great  as  they  are,  point  by  point. 

But  I have  entered  into  sympathy 

With  these  four,  running  these  into  one  soul, 

Who,  separate,  ignored  each  others’  arts. 

Say,  is  it  nothing  that  I know  them  all  ? Cleon. 

24.  John  Philpot  Curran , 1750. 

Needs  must  there  be  one  way,  our  chief 
Best  way  of  worship  : let  me  strive 
To  find  it,  and  when  found,  contrive 
My  fellows  also  take  their  share  ! 

This  constitutes  my  earthly  care. 

Christmas-Eve, 


JULY  25-28 


25.  Coleridge  died , 1834. 

And  I was  hers  to  live  or  to  die. 

As  for  finding  what  she  wanted, 

You  know  God  Almighty  granted 

Such  little  signs  should  serve  his  wild  creatures 

To  tell  one  another  all  their  desires, 

So  that  each  knows  what  his  friend  requires, 

And  does  his  bidding  without  teachers. 

The  Flight  of  the  Duchess. 

26.  Winthrop  Mackworth  Praed , 1802. 

Dost  thou  blame 

A soul  that  strives  but  to  see  plain,  speak  true, 
Truth  at  all  hazards  ? Oh  this  false  for  real, 

This  emptiness  which  feigns  solidity,  — 

Ever  some  gray  that ’s  white  and  dun  that  *s 
black,  — 

When  shall  we  rest  upon  the  thing  itself, 

Not  on  its  semblance  ? Ferishtah’s  Fancies. 

27.  Thomas  Campbell,  1777. 

If  two  lives  join,  there  is  oft  a scar, 

They  are  one  and  one,  with  a shadowy  third  ; 

One  near  one  is  too  far.  By  the  Fireside. 

28,  Mary  Anderson , 1859. 

Blame  I can  bear,  though  not  blameworthiness. 

The  Ring  and  the  Book. 


JULY  29-31 


29.  Alexis  de  Tocqueville , 1805. 

We,  the  better  part 

Have  chosen,  though ’t  were  only  hope,  — 

Nor  envy  moles  like  you  that  grope 
Amid  your  veritable  muck, 

More  than  the  grasshoppers  would  truck, 

For  yours,  their  passionate  life  away, 

That  spends  itself  in  leaps  all  day 
To  reach  the  sun,  you  want  the  eyes 
To  see,  as  they  the  wings  to  rise 
And  match  the  noble  hearts  of  them. 

Easter-Day. 

30.  George  Borrow  died , 1881. 

Fool  ! All  that  is,  at  all, 

Lasts  ever,  past  recall  ; 

Earth  changes,  but  thy  soul  and  God  stand  sure  : 
What  entered  into  thee, 

That  was,  is,  and  shall  be  : 

Time’s  wheel  runs  back  or  stops  : Potter  and  clay 
endure.  Rabbi  Ben  Ezra. 

31.  John  Ericsson , 1803. 

And  thou  shalt  know,  those  arms  once  curled 
About  thee,  what  we  knew  before, 

How  love  is  the  only  good  in  the  world. 

The  Flight  of  the  Duchess. 


AUGUST  1-4 


1.  Richard  Henry  Dana , 1815. 

Well  — and  you  know,  and  not  since  this  one  year, 
The  quiet  seaside  country  ? So  do  I : 

And  like  it,  in  a manner,  just  because 
Nothing  is  prominently  likeable 
To  vulgar  eye  without  a soul  behind, 

Which,  breaking  surface,  brings  before  the  ball 
Of  sight  a beauty  buried  everywhere. 

Red  Cotton  Night-cap  Country. 

2.  Cardinal  Wiseman , 1802. 

If  I spoke  a word 

First  of  all 

Up  his  cheek  the  color  sprung, 

Then  he  heard.  iN  A Year. 

3.  Columbus  set  sail  from  Palos , 1492. 

I profess  no  other  share 

In  the  selection  of  my  lot,  than  this, 

A ready  answer  to  the  will  of  God. 

Paracelsus. 


4.  Percy  Bysshe  Shelley , 1792. 

One  character 

Denotes  them  through  the  progress  and  the  stir,  — 
A need  to  blend  with  each  external  charm, 

Bury  themselves,  the  whole  heart  wide  and  warm, 
In  something  not  themselves.  Sordello. 


AUGUST  5-7 


5.  Charles  Fechter  died , 1879. 

— Man  knows  partly  but  conceives  beside, 

Creeps  ever  on  from  fancies  to  the  fact, 

And  in  this  striving,  this  converting  air 
Into  a solid  he  may  grasp  and  use, 

Finds  progress,  man’s  distinctive  mark  alone, 

Not  God’s  and  not  the  beasts’  ; God  is,  they  are, 
Man  partly  is  and  wholly  hopes  to  be. 

A Death  in  the  Desert. 

6.  ^ tcfred , Lord  Tennyson,  1809. 

See,  as  the  prettiest  graves  will  do  in  time, 

Our  poet’s  wants  the  freshness  of  its  prime  ; 
Headstone  and  half-sunk  footstone  lean  awry, 
Wanting  the  brickwork  promised  by  and  by  : 
How  the  minute  gray  lichens,  plate  o’er  plate 
Have  softened  down  the  crisp-cut  name  and  date. 

Fame. 


7.  Joseph  Rodman  Drake,  1795. 

No  ! youth  once  gone  is  gone  ! 
Deeds  let  escape  are  never  to  be  done, 

Leaf-fail  and  grass-spring  for  the  year  : for  us 
Oh  forfeit  I unalterably  thus 
My  chance  ? nor  two  lives  wait  me,  this  to  spend 
Learning  save  that  ? Sordello. 


AUGUST  8-1  1 


8.  Defeat  of  Spanish  Armada , 1588. 

Who  needs  be  told  “ The  space 
Which  yields  thee  knowledge,  — do  its  bounds  em- 
brace 

Well-willing  and  wise- working,  each  at  height  ? 
Enough  ; beyond  thee  lies  the  infinite  — 

Back  to  thy  circumspection  ! ” Parleyings. 

9.  John  Dry  den,  1631. 

In  brief,  the  man  was  angry  with  himself, 

With  her,  with  all  the  world  and  much  beside  ; 

And  so  the  unseemly  words  were  interchanged 
Which  crystallize  what  else  evaporates, 

And  make  misty  petulance  grow  hard 

And  sharp  inside  each  softness,  heart  and  soul. 

Red  Cotton  Night-cap  Country. 

10.  Sir  Charles  James  Napier , 1782. 

Ay,  dead  loves  are  the  potent  ! 

Like  any  cloud  they  used  you, 

Mere  semblance  you,  but  substance  they  ! 

St.  Martin’s  Summer. 

11.  Jeffries  Wyman , 1814. 

For  I,  a man,  with  men  am  linked, 

And  not  a brute  with  brutes  ; no  gain 
That  I experience,  must  remain 
Unshared.  Christmas-Eve. 


AUGUST  12-14 


12.  Robert  Southey , 1774. 

Love’s  undoing 

Taught  me  the  worth  of  love  in  man’s  estate, 

And  what  proportion  love  should  hold  with  power 
In  his  right  constitution  ; love  preceding 
Power,  and  with  much  power,  always  much  more 
love  ; 

Love  still  too  straitened  in  its  present  means, 

And  earnest  for  new  powers  to  set  it  free. 

Paracelsus. 


13.  Battle  of  Blenheim , 1704. 

Say  that  I hated  her  for  no  one  cause 
Beyond  my  pleasure  so  to  do,  — what  then  ? 

Just  on  as  much  incitement  acts  the  world, 

All  of  you  ! Look  and  like  ! you  favor  one, 
Browbeat  another,  leave  alone  a third,  — 

Why  should  you  master  natural  caprice  ? 

The  Ring  and  the  Book. 

14.  Park  Benjamin , 1809. 

Oh  the  little  more,  and  how  much  it  is  ! 

And  the  little  less  and  what  worlds  away  ! 
How  a sound  shall  quicken  content  to  bliss, 

Or  a breath  suspend  the  blood’s  best  play  — 
And  life  be  a proof  of  this  ! By  the  Fireside. 


AUGUST  15-18 


15.  Thomas  Be  Quincey , 1786. 

Do  me  justice  always  ? Bid  my  heart  — their 
shrine  — 

Render  back  its  store  of  gifts,  old  looks  and  words 
of  thine 

— Oh,  so  all  unjust  — the  less  deserved  the  more 
divine  ? Ferishtah’s  Fancies. 

16.  Victoria's  fir st  message  over  Atlantic  cable , 1858. 
As  night  needs  day,  as  sun  needs  shade,  so  good 
Needs  evil  ; how  were  pity  understood 
Unless  by  pain  ? Parleyings. 

17.  Fredrika  Bremer,  1801. 

Let  age  approve  of  youth,  and  death  complete  the 
same  ! Rabbi  Ben  Ezra. 

18.  Francis  Joseph  of  Austria,  1830. 

Waft  of  soul’s  wing  ! 

What  lies  above  ? 

Sunshine  and  Love. 

Skyblue  and  Spring  ! 

Body  hides  — where  ? 

Ferns  of  all  feather, 

Mosses  and  heather, 

Yours  be  the  care  ! 


PlSGAH-SlGHTS. 


AUGUST  19-21 


19.  Ber anger,  1780. 

Make  no  more  giants,  God, 
But  elevate  the  race  at  once.  We  ask 
To  put  forth  just  our  strength,  our  human  strength, 
Gifted  alike,  all  eagle-eyed,  true-hearted,  — 

See  if  we  cannot  beat  Thy  angels  yet  ! 

Paracelsus. 


20.  j Robert  Herrick , 1591. 

Is  it  not  so 

With  the  minds  of  men  ? 

The  level  and  low, 

The  burnt  and  bare,  in  themselves  ; but  then 
With  such  a blue  and  red  grace,  not  theirs 
Love  settling  unawares  ! James  Lee’s  Wife. 

21.  Lady  Mary  Wortley  Montague  died , 1762. 
Many  of  the  little  makes  a mass  of  men 
Important  beyond  greatness  here  and  there  : 

As  certainly  as,  in  life  exceptional, 

When  old  things  terminate,  and  new  commence, 
A solitary  great  man ’s  worth  the  world. 

God  takes  the  business  into  his  own  hands 
At  such  a time  : who  creates  the  novel  flower 
Contrives  to  guard,  and  give  it  breathing  room. 

Prince  Hohenstiel-Schwangau. 


AUGUST  22-25 


22.  Sydney  Dobell  died , 1874. 

This  is  why  Guido  is  found  reprobate  — 

I see  him  furnished  forth  for  his  career, 

On  starting  for  the  life-chance  in  our  world, 

With  nearly  all  we  count  sufficient  help  ; 

Body  and  mind  in  balance,  a sound  frame, 

A solid  intellect ; the  wit  to  seek, 

Wisdom  to  choose,  and  courage  wherewithal 
To  deal  with  whatsoever  circumstance 
Should  minister  to  man,  make  life  succeed. 

O,  and  much  drawback  ! what  were  earth  without 

The  Ring  and  the  Book. 

23.  Cuvier , 1769. 

Art  thou  the  tree  that  props  the  plant, 

Or  the  climbing  plant  that  seeks  the  tree  — 
Canst  thou  help  us,  must  we  help  thee  ? 

The  Flight  of  the  Duchess. 

24.  William  Wilberforce , 1759. 

Thank  you,  and  for  the  silence  most  of  all. 

Luria. 

25.  Baron  de  Bunsen , 1791. 

— How  perplexed 
Grows  belief  ! 

Well,  this  cold  clay  clod 
Was  man’s  heart  : 

Crumble  it,  and  what  comes  next  ? 

Is  it  God  ? 


In  a Year. 


AUGUST  26-28 

26.  Prince  Albert , 1819. 

Guido , speaker. 

You  never  know  what  life  means  till  you  die  ; 

Even  throughout  life,  ’t  is  death  that  makes  life 
live, 

Gives  it  whatever  the  significance  — 

Unmanned,  remade  ; I hold  it  probable  — 

With  something  changeless  at  the  heart  of  me 
To  know  me  by,  some  nucleus  that ’s  myself. 

The  Ring  and  the  Book. 

27.  James  Kirke  Paulding , 1779. 

I would  encircle  me  with  love,  and  raise 
A rampart  of  my  fellows  ; it  should  seem 
Impossible  for  me  to  fail,  so  watched 
By  gentle  friends  who  made  my  cause  their  own  ; 
They  should  ward  off  Fate’s  envy  — the  great  gift, 
Extravagant  when  claimed  by  me  alone, 

Being  so  a gift  to  them  as  well  as  me. 

If  danger  daunted  me  or  ease  seduced, 

How  calmly  their  sad  eyes  should  gaze  reproach  ! 

Paracelsus. 

28.  Goethe , 1749. 

Who  knows  most,  doubts  most  : entertaining  hope, 
Means  recognizing  fear.  Two  Poets  of  Croisic. 


AUGUST  29-SEPTEMBER  1 


29.  John  Frederick  Denison  Maurice , 1805. 
Pompilia,  speaker. 

Yes,  everybody  that  leaves  life  sees  all 
Softened  and  bettered  : so  with  other  sights  ; 
To  me  at  least  was  never  evening  yet 
But  seemed  far  beautifuller  than  its  day, 

Tor  past  is  past.  The  Ring  and  the  Book 

30.  Sir  John  Ross  died , 1856. 

Was  it  something  said, 

Something  done, 

Vexed  him  ? Was  it  touch  of  hand 
Turn  of  head  ? 

Strange  ! that  very  way 
Love  begun  : 

I as  little  understand 

Love’s  decay.  In  a Year. 

31.  John  Runyan  died , 1688. 

Bounteous  God, 

Deviser  and  dispenser  of  all  gifts 

To  soul  through  sense,  — in  Art  the  soul  uplifts 

Man’s  best  of  thanks.  Parleyings. 

SEPTEMBER 

1.  Battle  of  Sedan , 1870. 

You  must  mix  some  uncertainty 
With  faith,  if  you  would  have  faith  be. 

Easter-Day. 


SEPTEMBER  2-4 


2.  John  Howard , 1726. 

God’s  gift  was  that  man  should  conceive  of  truth 
And  yearn  to  gain  it,  catching  at  mistake, 

As  midway  help  till  he  reach  fact  indeed. 

The  statuary  ere  he  mould  a shape 

Boasts  of  a like  gift,  the  shape’s  idea,  and  next, 

The  aspiration  to  produce  the  same  ; 

So  taking  clay,  he  calls  his  shape  thereout, 

Cries  ever,  “ Now  I have  the  thing  I see 

Yet  all  the  while  goes  changingwhat  was  wrought, 

From  falsehood  like  the  truth,  to  truth  itself. 

God  only  makes  the  live  shape  at  a jet. 

A Death  in  the  Desert. 

3.  Chateaubriand , 1768. 

So,  all  that  the  old  Dukes  had  been,  without  know- 
ing it, 

This  Duke  would  fain  know  he  was,  without  being 
it.  The  Flight  op  the  Duchess. 

4.  Phoebe  Cary , 1824. 

So  with  me, 

Who  move  and  make,  — myself  — the  black,  the 
white, 

The  good,  the  bad  of  life’s  environment. 

Ferishtah’s  Fancies. 


SEPTEMBER  5-8 


5.  Wieland , 1733. 

To  me,  that  story  — ay,  that  Life  and  Death 
Of  which  I wrote  “ it  was  ” — to  me,  it  is  ; 

— Is,  here  and  now  ; I apprehend  nought  else. 

A Death  in  the  Deseet. 

6.  Lafayette , 1757. 

I profess 

To  know  just  one  fact  — my  self-consciousness,  — 
’Twixt  ignorance  and  ignorance  enisled,  — 
Knowledge.  Parleyings. 

7.  Queen  Elizabeth , 1533. 

We  do  not  see  it  where  it  is, 

At  the  beginning  of  the  race  ; 

As  we  proceed,  it  shifts  its  place, 

And  where  we  looked  for  crowns  to  fall, 

We  find  the  tug ’s  to  come,  — that ’s  all. 

Easter-Day. 

8.  Ariosto , 1474. 

Oh  I should  fade  — ’t  is  willed  so  ! Might  I save 
Gladly  I would,  whatever  beauty  gave 

Joy  to  thy  sense,  for  that  was  precious  too. 

It  is  not  to  be  granted.  But  the  soul 
Whence  the  love  comes,  all  ravage  leaves  that  whole  ; 
Vainly  the  flesh  fades  ; soul  makes  all  things 
new.  Any  Wife  to  Any  Husband. 


SEPTEMBER  9-1  1 


9.  Battle  of  Flodden , 1513. 

So,  still  within  this  life, 

Though  lifted  o’er  its  strife, 

Let  me  discern,  compare,  pronounce  at  last, 

“ This  rage  was  right  i’  the  main, 

“ This  acquiescence  vain  : 

“The  Future  I may  face  now  I have  proved  the 
Fast.  Rabbi  Ben  Ezra. 


10.  Mungo  Park , 1771. 

For  I say,  this  is  death,  and  the  sole  death, 

When  a man’s  loss  comes  to  him  from  his  gain, 
Darkness  from  light,  from  knowledge  ignorance, 
And  lack  of  love  from  love  made  manifest. 

A Death  in  the  Desert. 

11.  James  Thomson , 1700. 

Be  glad  thou  bast  let  light  into  the  world, 

Through  that  irregular  breach  o’  the  boundary,  — 

see 

The  same  upon  the  path  and  march  assured, 
Learning  anew  the  use  of  soldiership, 
Self-abnegation,  freedom  from  all  fear, 

Loyalty  to  the  life’s  end  ! Ruminate, 

Deserve  the  initiatory  spasm,  — 

W ork,  be  unhappy,  but  bear  life,  my  son  ! 

The  Ring  and  the  Book. 


SEPTEMBER  12-15 


12.  Charles  Dudley  Warner , 1829. 

What  ? was  man  made  a wheel- work  to  wind  up, 
And  be  discharged,  and  straight  wound  up  anew  ? 
No  ! — grown,  his  growth  lasts  ; taught,  he  ne’er 
forgets  : 

May  learn  a thousand  things,  not  twice  the  same. 

A Death  in  the  Desert. 

13.  Julius  Charles  Hare , 1795. 

Wall  upon  wall  are  between  us  ; life 

And  song  should  away  from  heart  to  heart  ! 

I — prison-bird,  with  a ruddy  strife 

At  breast,  and  a lip  whence  storm-notes  start, 

Hold  on,  hope  hard  in  the  subtle  thing 

That ’s  spirit  : though  cloistered  fast,  soar  free  : 
Account  as  wood,  brick,  stone,  this  ring 

Of  the  rueful  neighbors,  and  — forth  to  thee  ! 

A Wall. 

14.  Dante  died , 1321. 

You  were  wrong,  you  see  ; that ’s  well  to  see,  though 
late  ; 

That ’s  all  we  may  expect  of  man,  this  side 
The  grave  : his  good  is  — - knowing  he  is  bad. 

The  Ring  and  the  Book. 

15.  James  Fenimore  Cooper , 1789. 

Soul  — too  weak,  forsooth, 
To  cope  with  fact  — wants  fiction  everywhere  ! 

Mine  tires  of  falsehood  ; truth  at  any  cost ! 

Ferishtah’s  Fancies. 


SEPTEMBER  16-18 


16.  Francis  Parkman , 1823. 

But  see  the  double  way  wherein  we  are  led, 

How  the  soul  learns  diversely  from  the  flesh  ! 

With  flesh,  that  hath  so  little  time  to  stay, 

And  yields  mere  basement  for  the  soul’s  emprize, 
Expect  prompt  teaching. 

the  body  sprang 

At  once  to  the  height,  and  stayed  ; but  the  soul,  — 
wo  I A Death  in  the  Desert. 

17.  Battle  of  Antietam , 1862. 

Who  knows  what ’s  fit  for  us  ? Had  fate 
Proposed  bliss  here  should  sublimate 

My  being  — had  I signed  the  bond  — 

Still  one  mnst  lead  some  life  beyond, 

Have  a bliss  to  die  with,  dim-described. 

This  foot  once  planted  on  the  goal, 

This  glory-garland  round  my  soul, 

Could  I descry  such  ? Try  and  test  ! 

I sink  back  shuddering  from  the  quest. 

Earth  being  so  good,  would  heaven  seem  best  ? 

The  Last  Ride. 

18.  Samuel  Johnson , 1709. 

Take  what  is,  trust  what  may  be  ! 

That ’s  Life’s  true  lesson,  — Eh  ? 

Ferishtah’s  Fancies. 


SEPTEMBER  19-22 


19.  Lord  Brougham , 1779. 

I can  believe  this  dread  machinery 
Of  sin  and  sorrow,  would  confound  me  else, 
Devised  — all  pain,  at  most  expenditure 
Of  pain  by  Who  devised  pain  — to  evolve 
By  new  machinery  in  counterpart, 

The  moral  qualities  of  man  — how  else  ? — 

To  make  him  love  in  turn  and  be  beloved, 
Creative  and  self-sacrificing  too, 

And  thus  eventually  God-like. 

The  Ring  and  the  Book. 

20.  Battle  of  Alma , 1854. 

I suppose  heaven  is,  through  eternity, 

The  equalizing,  ever  and  anon, 

In  momentary  rapture,  great  with  small, 

Omniscience  with  intelligency,  God 

With  man.  Prince  Hohenstiel-Schwangau. 

21.  Savonarola , 1452. 

For  the  loving  worm  within  its  clod, 

Were  diviner  than  a loveless  god 
Amid  his  worlds,  I will  dare  to  say. 

Christmas-Eve. 

22.  Michael  Faraday , 1791. 

Already  had  begun  the  silent  work 
Whereby  truth,  deadened  of  its  absolute  blaze, 
Might  need  love’s  eye  to  pierce  the  o’erstretched 
doubt.  A Death  in  the  Desert. 


SEPTEMBER  23-25 


23.  Euripides  B.  C.  481.  * 

Five  hundred  years  ere  Paul  spoke,  Felix  heard, — 
How  much  of  temperance  and  righteousness, 
Judgment  to  come,  did  I find  reason  for, 
Corroborate  with  my  strong  style  that  spared 
No  sin,  nor  swerved  the  more  from  branding  brow 
Because  the  sinner  was  called  Zeus  and  God  ? 

How  nearly  did  I guess  at  what  Paul  knew  ? 

How  closely  come,  in  what  I represent 
As  duty,  to  his  doctrine  yet  a blank  ? 

The  Ring  and  the  Book. 

24.  Sharon  Turner , 1768. 

Man’s  work  is  to  labor  and  leaven  — 

As  best  he  may  — earth  here  with  heaven  ; 

*T  is  work  for  work’s  sake  that  he ’s  needing  : 
Let  him  work  on  and  on  as  if  speeding 
Work’s  end,  but  not  dream  of  succeeding  ! 
Because  if  success  were  intended, 

Why,  heaven  would  begin  ere  earth  ended. 

Pacchiarotto. 

25.  Felicia  He  mans,  1794. 

What ’s  a man’s  age  ? He  must  hurry  more,  that  ’ 
all  : 

Cram  in  a day,  what  his  youth  took  a year  to  hold 
When  we  mind  labor,  then  only  we  ’re  too  old. 

The  Flight  of  the  Duchess* 


SEPTEMBER  26-29 


26.  Lord  Collingwood , 1750. 

Do  you  think  I ’d  choose 
That  sort  of  new  love  to  enslave  me  ? 

Mine  should  have  lapped  me  round  from  the  begin- 
ning ; 

As  little  fear  of  losing  it  as  winning  ! 

Lovers  grow  cold,  men  learn  to  hate  their  wives, 
And  only  parents’  love  can  last  our  lives. 

Pippa  Passes. 

27.  George  CruilcshanJc , 1792. 

Nay,  if  you  come  to  that,  best  love  of  all 

Is  God’s  ; then  why  not  have  God’s  love  befall 
Myself  ? Pippa  Passes. 

28.  Sir  William  Jones , 1746. 

And  we  shall  all  be  equal  at  the  last, 

Or  classed  according  to  life’s  natural  ranks, 

Fathers,  sons,  brothers,  friends  — not  rich,  nor  wise, 
Nor  gifted.  Paracelsus. 


29.  Iloratio  Nelson , 1758. 

He  did  too  many  grandnesses,  to  note 
Much  in  the  meaner  things  about  his  path  ; 

And,  stepping  there,  with  face  toward  the  sun, 
Stopped  seldom  to  pluck  weeds  or  ask  their  names. 

Balaustion’s  Adventure. 


SEPTEMBER  30-OCTOBER  2 


30.  Auguste  Comte  died , 1857. 

This  filthy  rags  of  speech,  this  coil 
Of  statement,  comment,  query  and  response, 
Tatters  all  too  contaminate  for  use, 

Have  no  renewing  ; He  the  Truth  is,  too, 

The  W ord  — we  men  in  our  degree  may  know 
There,  simply,  instantaneously,  as  here 
After  long  time  and  amid  many  lies, 

Whatever  we  dare  think  we  know  indeed 
— That  I am  I,  as  He  is  He  — what  else  ? 

The  Ring  and  the  Book, 


OCTOBER 

1.  Sir  Edwin  Landseer  died , 1873. 

Nature  has  time  to  mend 
Mistake,  she  knows  occasion  will  recur  — - 
Landslip  or  seabreach,  how  affects  it  her 
With  her  magnificent  resources  ? I 
Must  perish  once  and  perish  utterly  ! 

SORDELLO. 

2.  Lyman  Beecher , 1775. 

What  but  Thy  measuring-rod 
Meted  forth  heaven  and  earth  ? more  intimate 
Thy  very  hands  were  busied  with  the  task 
Of  making,  in  this  human  shape,  a mask  — 

A match  for  that  divine.  Shall  love  abate 
Man’s  wonder  ? Nowise  ! 


Parleyings. 


OCTOBER  3-6 


3.  George  Bancroft , 1800. 

Pure  faith  indeed  — you  know  not  what  you  ask  ! 

Naked  belief  in  God  the  Omnipotent, 

Omniscient,  Omnipresent,  sears  too  much 

The  sense  of  conscious  creatures  to  be  borne. 

It  were  the  seeing  Him,  no  flesh  shall  dare. 

Bishop  Blougram’s  Apology. 

4.  Guizot , 1787. 

You  groped  your  way  across  my  room  i’ the  dear, 
dark  dead  of  night  ; 

At  each  fresh  step  a stumble  was  ; but  once  your 
lamp  alight, 

Easy  and  plain  you  walked  again  ; so  soon  all  wrong 
grew  right  ! Ferishtah’s  Fancies. 

5.  Jonathan  Edwards , 1703. 

Be  love  your  light  and  trust  your  guide,  with  these 
explore  my  heart  ! 

No  obstacle  to  trip  you  there,  strike  hands  and  souls 
apart  ! 

Since  rooms  and  hearts  are  furnished  so,  — light 
shows  you,  — need  love  start  ? 

Ferishtah’s  Fancies. 

6.  Jenny  Lind , 1821. 

I looked  beyond  the  world  for  truth  and  beauty  ; 

Sought,  found,  and  did  my  duty. 


Ferishtah’s  Fancies. 


OCTOBER  7-9 


7.  Archbishop  Laud , 1573. 

Therefore  I summon  age 

To  grant  youth’s  heritage, 

Life’s  struggle  having  so  far  reached  its  term  ; 
Thence  shall  I pass,  approved 
A man,  for  aye  removed 

From  the  developed  brute  ; a God  though  in  the 
germ.  Rabbi  Ben  Ezra. 

8.  Philarete  Charles , 1798. 

What,  my  soul  ? See  thus  far  and  no  farther  ? 

When  doors  great  and  small, 
Nine-and-ninety  flew  ope  at  our  touch,  should  the 
hundredth  appall  ? 

In  the  least  things  have  faith,  yet  distrust  in  the 
greatest  of  all  ? 

Do  I find  love  so  full  in  my  nature,  God’s  ultimate 

gift, 

That  I doubt  his  own  love  can  compete  with  it  ? 
Here  the  parts  shift  ? 

Here  the  creature  surpass  the  creator,  — the  end, 
what  began  ? 

Would  I fain  in  my  impotent  yearning  do  all  for 
this  man, 

And  dare  doubt  he  alone  shall  not  help  him,  who 
yet  alone  can  ? Saul. 

9.  Cervantes , 1547. 

But  no  good  supplants  a good, 

Nor  beauty  undoes  beauty.  Balaustion’s  Adventure. 


OCTOBER  10-13 


10.  Benjamin  West , 1738. 

Who  trusts 

To  human  testimony  for  a fact 

Gets  this  sole  fact  — himself  is  proved  a fool  ; 

Man’s  speech  being  false,  if  but  by  consequence 
That  only  strength  is  true,  while  man  is  weak, 

And,  since  truth  seems  reserved  for  heaven  not 
earth, 

Should  learn  to  love  what  he  may  speak  one  day. 

The  Ring  and  the  Book. 

11.  Samuel  G.  Drake , 1798. 

Grant  me  (once  again)  assurance  we  shall  each  meet 
each  some  day, 

Walk — but  with  how  bold  a footstep  ! on  a way  — 
but  what  a way  ! 

— Worst  were  best,  defeat  were  triumph,  utter  loss 
were  utmost  gain. 

Can  it  be,  and  must,  and  will  it  ? La  Saisiaz. 

12.  Hugh  Miller , 1802. 

Feel  how  my  life  broke  off  from  thine, 

How  fresh  the  splinters  keep  and  fine,  — 

Only  a touch  and  we  combine  ! 

In  Three  Days. 

13.  Battle  of  Hastings , 1066. 

God ’s  in  his  heaven. 

All ’s  right  with  the  world  ! 

Pippa  Passes. 


OCTOBER  14-16 


14.  William  Penn , 1644. 

Well,  is  the  thing  we  see  salvation  ? I 

Put  no  such  dreadful  question  to  myself, 

Within  whose  circle  of  experience  burns 
The  central  truth,  Power,  Wisdom,  Goodness,  — 
God; 

I must  outlive  a thing  ere  know  it  dead  ; 

When  I outlive  the  faith  there  is  a sun, 

When  I lie,  ashes  to  the  very  soul,  — 

Some  one,  not  I,  must  wail  above  the  heap, 

“ He  died  in  dark  whence  never  morn  arose.’ ’ 

The  Ring  and  the  Book. 

15.  Allan  Ramsay , 1686. 

Some  think,  Creation ’s  meant  to  show  Him  forth  ; 

I say  it ’s  meant  to  hide  Him  all  it  can, 

And  that ’s  what  all  the  blessed  evil ’s  for. 

Its  use  in  Time  is  to  environ  us 

Our  breath,  our  drop  of  dew,  with  shield  enough 

Against  that  sight  till  we  can  bear  its  stress. 

Bishop  Blougram’s  Apology. 

16.  Noah  Webster , 1758. 

X say,  such  love  is  never  blind  ; but  rather 
Aliv#  to  every  the  minutest  spot 
Which  mars  its  object,  and  which  hate  (supposed 
So  vigilant  and  searching)  dreams  not  of. 

Paracelsus. 


OCTOBER  17-20 


17.  Sir  Philip  Sidney  died , 1586. 

I know  my  own  appointed  patch  i’  the  world, 

What  pleasures  me  or  pains  there  ; all  outside  — 
How  he,  she,  it,  and  even  thou,  Son,  live, 

Are  pleased  or  pained,  is  past  conjecture,  once 
I pry  beneath  the  semblance,  — all  that ’s  fit, 

To  practise  with,  — reach  where  the  fact  may  lie 
Fathom-deep  lower.  Ferishtah’s  Fancies. 

18.  Thomas  Love  Peacock , 1785. 

All  my  days,  I ’ll  go  the  softlier,  sadlier. 

For  that  dream ’s  sake  ! How  forget  the  thrill 
Through  and  through  me  as  I thought  “ The  glad- 
lier 

Lives  my  friend  because  I love  him  still ! 99 

Fears  and  Scruples. 

19.  Leigh  Hunt , 1784. 

This  self-possession  to  the  uttermost, 

How  does  it  differ  in  aught  save  degree. 
From  the  terrible  patience  of  God  ? 

The  Ring  and  the  Book. 

20.  Thomas  Hughes , 1823. 

Here,  blindfold  through  the  maze  of  things  we 
walk 

By'  a slight  thread  of  false,  true^Hght  and  wrong. 

King  Victor  and  King  Charles. 


OCTOBER  21  -23 


21.  Alphonse  de  Lamartine , 1792. 

That  low  man  goes  on  adding  one  to  one, 

His  hundred ’s  soon  hit  ; 

This  high  man  aiming  at  a million, 

Misses  an  unit. 

That,  has  the  world  here  — should  he  need  the  next, 
Let  the  world  mind  him  ! 

This,  throws  himself  on  God,  and  unperplexed 
Seeking  shall  find  him. 

A Grammarian’s  Funeral. 

22.  Henry  Richard,  Lord  Holland,  died,  1840. 
Man’s  mind  — what  is  it  but  a convex  glass 
Wherein  are  gathered  all  the  scattered  points 
Picked  out  of  the  immensity  of  sky, 

To  reunite  there,  be  our  heaven  on  earth, 

Our  known  unknown,  our  God  revealed  to  man  ? 
Here  by  the  little  mind  of  man,  reduced 
To  littleness  that  suits  his  faculty. 

The  Ring  and  the  Book. 


23.  Francis  Jeffrey,  1773. 

He  looked  at  her  as  a lover  can  ; 

She  looked  at  him  as  one  who  awakes  ; 

The  past  was  a sleep,  and  her  life  began. 

The  Statue  and  the  Bust. 


OCTOBER  24-27 


24.  Sir  James  Mackintosh , 1765. 

The  common  problem,  yours,  mine,  every  one’s, 

Is  — not  to  fancy  what  were  fair  in  life 
Provided  it  could  be,  — but,  finding  first 
What  may  be,  then  find  how  to  make  it  fair 
Up  to  our  means  ; a very  different  thing  ! 

Bishop  Blougram’s  Apology. 

25.  Thomas  Babington  Macaulay , 1800. 

Thou,  patient  thus,  couldst  rise  from  law  to  law, 
The  old  to  the  new,  promoted  at  one  cry 
O’  the  trump  of  God  to  the  new  service,  not 
To  longer  bear,  but  henceforth  fight,  be  found 
Sublime  in  new  impatience  with  the  foe  ! 

The  Ring  and  the  Book. 

26.  Von  Moltke , 1800. 

Wander  at  will, 

Day  after  day,  — 

Wander  away, 

Wandering  still  — 

Soul  that  can  soar  ! 

Body  may  slumber  : 

Body  shall  cumber 
Soul-flight  no  more.  Pisgah-Sights. 

27.  Capt.  Cook , 1728. 

Why  crown  whom  Zeus  has  crowned  in  soul  be- 
fore ? 


Balaustion’s  Adventure. 


OCTOBER  28-31 

28.  Erasmus , 1467. 

The  inward  work  and  worth 
Of  any  mind,  what  other  mind  may  judge 
Save  God  who  only  knows  the  thing  He  made, 
The  veritable  service  He  exacts  ? 

It  is  the  outward  product  men  appraise. 

The  Ring  and  the  Book. 

29.  John  Keats , 1795. 

Where  his  fellow  failed, 

Mastered  by  his  own  means  of  might,  — acquist 
Of  necessary  sorrows,  — he  prevailed, 

A strong  since  joyful  man  who  stood  distinct 
Above  slave-sorrows  to  his  chariot  linked. 

The  Two  Poets  of  Croisic. 

30.  Richard  Brinsley  Sheridan , 1751. 

Ask  thy  lone  soul  what  laws  are  plain  to  thee, 
Thee  and  no  other,  — stand  or  fall  by  them  ! 
This  is  the  part  for  thee  ; regard  all  else 
For  what  it  may  be  — Times ’s  illusion. 

Ferishtah’s  Fancies. 

31.  John  Evelyn , 1620. 

Oh  the  little  more,  and  how  much  it  is  ! 

And  the  little  less  and  what  worlds  away  ! 
How  a sound  shall  quicken  content  to  bliss, 

Or  a breath  suspend  the  blood’s  best  play, 
And  life  be  a proof  of  this  ! By  the  Fireside. 


NOVEMBER  1-3 

1.  All  Saints. 

And  she  is  gone  ; sweet  human  love  is  gone  ! 

’T  is  only  when  they  spring  to  heaven  that  angels 
Reveal  themselves  to  you  ; they  sit  all  day 
Beside  you,  and  lie  down  at  night  by  you, 

Who  care  not  for  their  presence  — muse  or  sleep  — 
And  all  at  once  they  leave  you  and  you  know 
them  ! Paracelsus. 


2.  Marie  Antoinette , 1755. 

Youth  ended,  I shall  try 
My  gain  or  loss  thereby  ; 

Leave  the  fire  ashes,  what  survives  is  gold  ; 

And  I shall  weigh  the  same, 

Give  life  its  praise  or  blame  ; 

Young,  all  lay  in  dispute  ; I shall  know,  being  old. 

Rabbi  Ben  Ezra. 

3.  William  Cullen  Bryant , 1794. 

Beside  my  stretch 

Of  blacks  and  whites,  I see  a world  of  woe 
All  round  about  me.  . . . 

Thus  fare  my  fellows,  swallowed  up  in  gloom 
So  far  as  I discern  ; how  far  is  that  ? 

God’s  care  be  God’s  ! ’T  is  mine  — to  boast  no  joy 
Unsobered  by  such  sorrows  of  my  kind 
As  sully  with  their  shade  my  life  that  shines. 

Ferishtah’s  Fancies. 


NOVEMBER  4-6 


4.  Guido  Beni , 1575. 

“ You  are  sick,  that ’s  sure  ” — they  say  ; 

“ Sick  of  what  ? ” — they  disagree. 

“ ’T  is  the  brain  ” — thinks  Doctor  A., 

“ ’T  is  the  heart  ” — holds  Doctor  B., 

“ The  liver  — my  life  I ’d  lay  ! ” 

“ The  lungs  ! ” 66  The  lights  t ” Ah  me  ! 

So  ignorant  of  man’s  whole 
Of  bodily  organs  plain  to  see  — 

So  sage  and  certain,  frank  and  free, 

About  what ’s  under  lock  and  key  — 

Man’s  soul  ! Dramatic  Idyls. 

5.  Hans  Sachs , 1494. 

Life  is  stocked  with  germs  of  torpid  life  : but  may 
I never  wake 

Those  of  mine  whose  resurrection  could  not  be  with- 
out earthquake  : 

Best  all  such,  unraised  forever  ! Be  this,  sad  yet 
sweet,  the  sole 

Memory  evoked  from  slumber  ! Least  part  this: 
then  what  the  whole  ? La  Saisiaz. 

6.  Princess  Charlotte  died , 1817. 

I look 

With  hope  to  age  at  last,  which  quenching  much 
May  let  me  concentrate  the  sparks  it  spares. 

Pauline. 


NOVEMBER  7-10 


7.  Battle  of  Tippecanoe , 1811. 

Take  all  in  a word  ; the  truth  in  God’s  breast 
Lies  trace  for  trace  upon  ours  impressed  ; 

Though  He  is  so  bright  and  we  are  so  dim, 

We  are  made  in  His  image  to  witness  Him. 

Chbistmas-Eve. 

8.  John  Milton  died , 1674. 

Man  lumps  his  kind  i’  the  mass  ; God  singles  thence 
Unit  by  unit  — Thou  and  God  exist. 

Ferishtah’s  Fancies. 

9.  Albert  Edward , Prince  of  Wales , 1841. 

She  had 

A heart  — how  shall  I say  ? too  soon  made  glad, 

Too  easily  impressed  ; she  liked  whate’er 

She  looked  on,  and  her  looks  went  everywhere. 

Sir,  ’t  was  all  one  ! my  favor  at  her  breast, 

The  dropping  of  the  daylight  in  the  west, 

The  bough  of  cherries  some  officious  fool 
Broke  in  the  orchard  for  her,  the  white  mule 
She  rode  with  round  the  terrace  — all  and  each 
Would  draw  from  her  alike  the  approving  speech, 
Or  blush,  at  least.  My  Last  Duchess. 

10.  Oliver  Goldsmith , 1728. 

Trust  me  blood-warmth  never  yet 
Betokened  strong  will.  A Forgiveness. 


NOVEMBER  1 1-13 


11.  Thomas  Bailey  Aldrich , 1837. 

I say  that  man  was  made  to  grow,  not  stop  ; 

That  help  he  needed  once,  and  needs  no  more, 
Having  grown  but  an  inch  by,  is  withdrawn  : 

For  he  hath  new  needs,  and  new  helps  to  these. 
This  imports  solely,  man  should  mount  on  each 
New  height  in  view  ; the  help  whereby  he  mounts, 
The  ladder-rung  his  foot  has  left,  may  fall, 

Since  all  things  suffer  change  save  God  the  Truth. 
Man  apprehends  Him  newly  at  each  stage 
Whereat  earth’s  ladder  drops,  its  service  done. 

A Death  in  the  Desert. 

12.  Bichard  Baxter , 1615. 

Sorrow  is  hard  to  bear,  and  doubt  is  slow  to  clear, 
Each  sufferer  says  his  say,  his  scheme  of  the  weal 
and  woe  ; 

But  God  has  a few  of  us  whom  He  whispers  in  the 
ear  ; 

The  rest  may  reason  and  welcome  ; ’t  is  we  musi- 
cians know.  Abt  Yogler. 

13.  Edwin  Booth , 1833. 

Saints  to  do  us  good 

Must  be  in  heaven,  I seem  to  understand  : 

We  never  find  them  saints  before,  at  least. 

The  Ring  and  the  Book. 


NOVEMBER  14-17 


14.  Lavater , 1741. 

Here  the  probation  was  for  thee, 

To  show  thy  soul  the  earthly  mixed 
With  heavenly,  it  must  choose  betwixt. 

The  earthly  joys  lay  palpable,  — 

A taint,  in  each,  distinct  as  well  ; 

The  heavenly  flitted,  faint  and  rare 
Above  them,  but  as  truly  were 
Taintless,  so,  in  their  nature,  best. 

Easter-Day. 

15.  Andrew  Marvell , 1620. 

And,  all  day,  I sent  prayer  like  incense  up 
To  God  the  strong,  God  the  beneficent, 

God  ever  mindful  in  all  strife  and  strait, 

Who,  for  our  own  good,  makes  the  need  extreme, 
Till  at  the  last  He  puts  forth  might  and  saves. 

The  Ring  and  the  Book, 

16.  John  Bright , 1811. 

“ Heaven,”  saith  the  sage,“  is  with  us,  here  inside 
Each  man  ; ” Hell  also  simpleness  subjoins. 

Red  Cotton  Night-cap  Country. 

17.  George  Grote,  1794. 

By  the  pain-throb,  triumphantly  winning  intensified 
bliss, 

And  the  next  world’s  reward  and  repose,  by  the 
struggles  in  this.  Saul. 


NOVEMBER  18-21 

18.  Sir  David  Wilkie , 1785. 

Only  grant  a second  life,  I acquiesce 

In  the  present  life  as  failure,  count  misfortune’s 
worst  assaults 

Triumph,  not  defeat,  assured  that  loss  so  much  the 
more  exalts 

Gain  about  to  be.  Saisiaz. 

19.  Thorwaldsen , 1770. 

But  intellect  adjusts  the  means  to  end, 

Tries  the  low  thing,  and  leaves  it  done,  at  least  % 
No  prejudice  to  high  thing,  intellect 
Would  do  and  will  do,  only  give  the  means. 

Red  Cotton  JN1&HT-.CAP  Country. 

20.  Queen  Margherita , 1851. 

Good  you  are  and  wise,  full  circle  : what  to  me 
were  more  outside  ? 

Wiser  wisdom,  better  goodness?  Ah,  such  want  the 
angel’s  wide 

Sense  to  take  and  hold  and  keep  them  ! mine  at 
least  has  never  tried.  Ferisiitah’s  Fancies. 

21.  Drown  Princess  Victoria  of  Germany , 1840. 

Death  reads  the  title  clear  — 

What  each  soul  for  itself  conquered  from  out  things 
here,  Fifineat  the  Fair. 


NOVEMBER  22-24 


22.  George  Eliot , 1819. 

For  at  what  moment  did  I so  advance 

Near  to  knowledge  as  when  frustrate  of  escape  from 
ignorance  ? 

Did  not  beauty  prove  most  precious  when  its  oppo- 
site obtained 

Rule,  and  truth  seem  more  than  ever  potent  because 
falsehood  reigned  ? La  Saisiaz. 

23.  Evert  A.  Duyckinhr  1816. 

While  for  love  — Oh  how  but,  losing  love,  does 
whoso  loves  succeed 

By  the  death-pang  to  the  birth-throe  — learning 
what  is  love  indeed  ? La  Saisiaz. 

24.  Lawrence  Sterne , 1713. 

Man  I am  and  man  would  be.  Love,  merest  man 
and  nothing  more  — 

Bid  me  seem  no  other  1 Eagles  boast  of  pinions  — 
let  them  soar  l 

I may  put  forth  angeFs  plumage,  once  unmanned, 
but  not  before. 

Now  on  earth,  to  stand  suffices, — -nay,  if  kneeling 
serves,  to  kneel : 

Here  you  front  me,  here  I find  the  all  of  heaven 
that  earth  can  feeL  Ferishtah’s  Fancies. 


NOVEMBER  25-28 


25.  John  Gibson  Lockhart  died,  1854. 

Rejoice  that  man  is  hurled 

From  change  to  change  unceasingly, 
His  soul’s  wings  never  furled  ! 

James  Lee’s  Wife. 

26.  Marshal  Soult  died , 1850. 

Euripides , speaker.  Thus,  bol  d 

Yet  self-mistrusting,  should  man  hare  himself, 
Most  assured  on  what  now  concerns  him  most  — 
The  law  of  his  own  life,  the  path  he  prints  — 
Which  law  is  virtue  and  not  vice,  I say,  — 

And  least  inquisitive  where  least  search  skills, 

I’  the  nature  we  best  give  the  clouds  to  keep. 

The  Ring  and  the  Book. 

27.  Frances  Anne  Kemble , 1809. 

God  takes  time  — 

I like  the  thought  he  should  have  lodged  me  once 
I’  the  hole,  the  cave,  the  hut,  the  tenement, 

The  mansion,  and  the  palace  ; made  me  learn 
The  feel  o’  the  first,  before  I found  myself 
Loftier  i’  the  last,  not  more  emancipate  ; 

From  first  to  last  of  lodging,  I was  I, 

And  not  at  all  the  place  that  harbored  me. 

Prince  Hohenstiel-Schwangau. 

28.  William  Blake , 1757. 

Sun-treader,  I believe  in  God  and  truth 
And  love.  Pauline. 


NOVEMBER  29  — DECEMBER  1 


29.  Rhoda  Broughton , 1840. 

Eating  my  breakfast,  I thanked  God.  For  love 
Shown  in  the  cherries’  flavor  ? Consecrate 
So  pretty  an  example  ? There ’s  the  fault  ! 

We  circumscribe  omnipotence.  Search  sand 
To  unearth  water  ; if  first  handful  scooped 
Yields  thee  a draught,  what  need  of  digging  down 
Full  fifty  fathoms  deep  to  find  aspring 
Whereof  the  pulse  would  deluge  half  the  land  ? 
Drain  the  sufficient  drop,  and  praise  what  checks 
The  drouth  that  glues  thy  tongue. 

Ferishtah’s  Fancies. 

30.  Mark  Lemon , 1809. 

I am  near  the  end  ; but  still  not  at  the  end  : 

All  till  the  very  end  is  trial  in  life. 

The  Ring  and  the  Book. 

DECEMBER 

1.  Princess  of  Wales , 1844. 

Grow  old  along  with  me 
The  best  is  yet  to  be, 

The  last  of  life,  for  which  the  first  was  made  : 

Our  times  are  in  His  hand 
Who  saith  “ A whole  I planned, 

Youth  shows  but  half  ; trust  God  ; see  all  nor  be 
afraid.”  Rabbi  Ben  Ezra. 


DECEMBER  2-5 


2.  Battle  of  Austerlitz , 1805. 

But  why  must  cold  spread  ? But  wherefore  bring 
change 

To  the  spirit, 

God  meant  should  mate  his  with  an  infinite  range, 
And  inherit 

His  power  to  put  life  in  the  darkness  and  cold  ? 

Oh  live  and  love  worthily,  bear  and  be  bold  ! 

James  Lee's  Wife, 

3.  Mary  Lamb , 1764. 

As  age  — youth, 

So  death  completes  living,  shows  life  in  its  truth. 

Parleyings. 


4.  Thomas  Carlyle , 1795. 

All  we  have  willed  or  hoped  or  dreamed  of  good, 
shall  exist  ; 

Not  its  semblance,  but  itself  ; no  beauty,  nor  good, 
nor  power 

Whose  voice  has  gone  forth,  but  each  survives  for 
the  melodist, 

When  eternity  affirms  the  conception  of  an  hour. 

Abt  Vogler. 


5.  Mozart  died , 1791. 

And  thus  I knew  this  earth  is  not  my  sphere, 
For  I cannot  so  narrow  me  but  that 
I still  exceed  it. 


Pauline. 


DECEMBER  6-8 


6.  Richard  H.  Barham , 1788. 

Pompilia , speaker. 

So  let  him  wait  God’s  instant  men  call  years  : 
Meantime  hold  hard  by  truth  and  his  great  soul, 
Do  out  the  duty  ! Through  such  souls  alone 
God  stooping  shows  sufficient  of  his  light 
For  us  in  the  dark  to  rise  by  — and  I rise. 

The  Ring  and  the  Book. 

7.  Allan  Cunningham , 1784. 

Caponsacchi , speaker . 

To  have  to  do  with  nothing  but  the  true, 

The  good,  the  eternal  — and  these,  not  alone 
In  the  main  current  of  the  general  life, 

But  small  experiences  of  every  day, 

Concerns  of  the  particular  hearth  and  home  ; 

To  learn  not  only  by  a comet’s  rush 

But  a rose’s  birth,  — not  by  the  grandeur,  God  — 

But  the  comfort,  Christ.  the  Ring  and  the  Book. 

8.  Mary  Stuart , 1542. 

Infancy  ? what  if  the  rose-streak  of  morning 
Pale  and  depart  in  a passion  of  tears  ? 

Once  to  have  hoped  is  no  matter  for  scorning  ! 

Love  once  — e’en  love’s  disappointment  endears 
A minute’s  success  pays  the  failure  of  years. 

Parleyings. 


DECEMBER  9-1  1 


9.  John  Milton , 1608. 

So,  the  year’s  done  with  ! 

( Love  me  forever  /) 

All  March  begun  with 
April’s  endeavor  ; 

May-wreaths  that  bound  me 
June  needs  must  sever  ! 

Now  snows  fall  round  me, 

Quenching  June’s  fever  — 

( Love  me  forever  /) 

Earth’s  Immortalities. 

10.  Thomas  Hopkins  Gallaudet , 1787. 

How  can  man  love  but  what  he  yearns  to  help  ! 

And  that  which  men  think  weakness  within  strength, 
But  angels  know  for  strength  and  stronger  yet  — 
What  were  it  else  but  the  first  things  made  new, 
But  repetition  of  the  miracle, 

The  divine  instance  of  self-sacrifice 
That  never  ends  and  aye  begins  for  man  ? 

The  Ring  and  the  Book. 

11.  Charles  XII.  killed  in  battle , 1718. 

Soul, 

Nothing  has  been  that  shall  not  bettered  be 
Hereafter.  Parleyings. 


DECEMBER  12-15 


12.  Heinrich  Heine , 1797. 

Knowledge  doubt 

Even  wherein  it  seems  demonstrable  ! 

Love,  — in  the  claim  for  love,  that ’s  gratitude 
For  apprehended  pleasure,  nowise  doubt ! 

Pay  its  due  tribute, — sure  that  pleasure  is, 

While  knowledge  may  be,  at  the  most. 

Ferishtah’s  Fancies 

13.  Arthur  Penryhn  Stanley,  1815. 

Over  the  ball  of  it, 

Peering  and  prying, 

How  I see  all  of  it, 

Life  there,  outlying  ! 

Roughness  and  smoothness, 

Shine  and  defilement, 

Grace  and  uncouthness  ; 

One  reconcilement.  Pisgah-Sights. 

14.  Prince  Albert  died , 1861. 

Others  mistrust  and  say  “ But  time  escapes  ! 

Live  now  or  never  ! ” 

He  said  “ What  ?s  time  ? Leave  now  for  dogs  and 
apes  ! 

Man  has  Forever.’  ’ 

A Grammarian’s  Funeral. 

15.  Henry  Chorley,  1808. 

I could  not  love  him,  but  his  mother  did. 

The  Ring  and  the  Book. 


DECEMBER  16-18 


16.  Mary  Russell  Mitford , 1787. 

The  high  that  proved  too  high,  the  heroic  for  earth 
too  hard, 

The  passion  that  left  the  ground  to  lose  itself  in 
the  sky, 

Are  music  sent  up  to  God  by  the  lover  and  the 
bard  ; 

Enough  that  he  heard  it  once  : we  shall  hear  it 
by  and  by.  Abt  Vogler. 

17.  Beethoven , 1770. 

For  break  through  Art  and  rise  to  poetry, 

Bring  Art  to  tremble  nearer,  touch  enough 
The  verge  of  vastness  to  inform  our  soul 
What  orb  makes  transit  through  the  dark  above, 
And  there ’s  the  triumph  ! — there  the  incomplete, 
More  than  completion,  matches  the  immense  — 
Then,  Michelagnolo  against  the  world  ! 

Red  Cotton  Night-cap  Country. 

18.  Samuel  Rogers  died , 1855. 

He  ventured  neck  or  nothing  — heaven’s  success 
Found  or  earth’s  failure  : 

“ Wilt  thou  trust  death  or  not  ? ” He  answered 
“ Yes  ! 

Hence  with  life’s  pale  lure  ” ! 

A Grammarian’s  Funeral. 


DECEMBER  19-22 


19.  J.  M.  W.  Turner , died , 1851. 

I am  in  motion,  and  all  things  beside 

That  circle  round  my  passage  through  their  midst,  — 

Motionless,  these  are,  as  regarding  me  : 

. but  plain  they  serve 

This,  if  no  other  purpose  — stuff  to  try 
And  test  my  power  upon  of  raying  light 
And  lending  hue  to  all  things  as  I go 
Moonlike  through  vapor.  Ferishtah’s  Fancies. 

20.  John  Wilson  CroJcer , 1780. 

No  ! love  which,  on  earth,  amid  all  the  shows  of  it 
Has  ever  been  seen  the  sole  good  of  life  in  it, 

The  love,  ever  growing  there,  spite  of  the  strife 
in  it, 

Shall  arise,  made  perfect,  from  death’s  repose 
of  it  ! Christmas-Eve. 

21.  Lord  Beaconsfield , 1805. 

And  I shall  behold  Thee  face  to  face, 

O God,  and  in  Thy  light  retrace, 

How  in  all  I loved  here  still  wast  Thou  ! 

Christmas-Eve. 

22.  Thomas  Wentworth  Higginson , 1823. 

Thou,  heaven’s  consummate  cup,  what  need’st  thou 
with  earth’s  wheel  ? Rabbi  Ben  Ezra. 


DECEMBER  23-25 


23.  C.  A.  Sainte-Beuve , 1804. 

After  how  many  modes,  this  Christmas-Eve, 

Does  the  selfsame  weary  thing  take  place  ? 

The  same  endeavor  to  make  you  believe, 

And  with  much  the  same  effect,  no  more  : 

Each  method  abundantly  convincing, 

As  I say,  to  those  convinced  before 

But  scarce  to  be  swallowed  without  wincing, 

By  the  not-as-yet-convinced.  Christmas-Eve. 

24.  Matthew  Arnold , 1822. 

He  who  did  Inost  shall  bear  most  ; the  strongest 
shall  stand  the  most  weak. 

’T  is  the  weakness  in  strength,  that  I cry  for  ! my 
flesh  that  I seek 

In  the  Godhead  ! I seek  and  I find  it. 

25.  Christmas. 

O Saul,  it  shall  be 

A Face  like  my  face  that  receives  thee  : a Man  like 
to  me, 

Thou  shalt  love  and  be  loved  by  forever  : a Hand 
like  this  hand 

Shall  throw  open  the  gates  of  new  life  to  thee  ! 
See  the  Christ  stand  ! Saul. 


DECEMBER  26-29 


26.  St.  Stephen. 

The  death  I fly,  revealed 
So  oft  a better  life  this  life  concealed, 

And  which  sage,  champion,  martyr,  through  each 
path 

Have  hunted  fearlessly  — 

— ’T  was  well  for  them  : let  me  become  aware 
As  they,  and  I relinquish  life,  too  ! Let 

What  masters  life  declare  itself  ! Sordello. 

27.  St.  John  Evangelist. 

St.  John  speaks.  Can  they  share 

— They,  who  have  flesh,  a veil  of  youth  and 

strength 

About  each  spirit,  that  needs  must  bide  its  time, 
Living  and  learning  still  as  years  assist 
Which  wear  the  thickness  thin,  and  let  man  see  — 
With  me  who  hardly  am  withheld  at  all, 

But  shudderingly,  scarce  a shred  between, 

Lie  bare  to  the  universal  prick  of  light  ? 

28.  Catherine  M.  Sedgwick , 1789. 

Is  it  for  nothing  we  grow  old  and  weak, 

We  whom  God  loves  ? When  pain  ends,  gain  ends 
too.  A Death  in  the  Desert. 

29.  William  Ewart  Gladstone , 1809. 

— Thou  waitedst  age  ; wait  death  nor  be  afraid  ! 

Rabbi  Ben  Ezra. 


DECEMBER  30,  31 

30.  George  Henry  Lewes  died , 1878. 

So  at  the  last  shall  come  old  age, 

Decrepit  as  befits  that  stage  ; 

How  else  should’st  thou  retire  apart 
With  the  hoarded  memories  of  the  heart, 
And  gather  all  to  the  very  least 
Of  the  fragments  of  life’s  earlier  feast, 

Let  fall  through  eagerness  to  find 
The  crowning  dainties  yet  behind  ? 

The  Flight  of  the  Duchess. 

31.  Spurzheim , 1776. 

Ponder  on  the  entire  past 
Laid  together  now  at  last, 

When  the  twilight  helps  to  fuse 
The  first  fresh,  with  the  faded  hues, 

And  the  outline  of  the  whole, 

As  round  eve’s  shades  their  framework  roll, 
Grandly  fronts  for  once  thy  soul  ! 

And  then  as,  ’mid  the  dark,  a gleam 
Of  yet  another  morning  breaks, 

And  like  the  hand  which  ends  a dream 
Death,  with  the  might  of  his  sunbeam, 
Touches  the  flesh  and  the  soul  awakes, 

Then  — The  Flight  of  the  Duchess. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS-URBAf 


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